Religion and Worldviews has a very high profile within the St Michael's curriculum and makes a significant contribution to preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. The Religion and Worldviews curriculum fosters a curious, diverse, and thoughtful approach to RE, whereby pupils have opportunities to share their views (Article 13) and the understanding that they have the right to Freedom of Thought and Religion (Article 14).  Pupils can explore and embed their understanding of Christianity and being a member of a church school, through their respective Religion and Worldviews lessons, alongside our weekly Collective Worships, Religious Festivals programme, and prayer time. At St Michael's, we follow Somerset's Locally Agreed Syllabus. To support this syllabus, we use resources from Understanding Christianity for our Christianity units, whilst using the Exploring Religion and Worldviews series from NATRE and Oak Academy for other religious and non-religious worldviews.  This provides children an opportunity to explore a vast wealth of different religions, but also alternative viewpoints within a religion, alongside worldviews from Humanists and other non-religious beliefs in a safe and nurturing space. We encourage children to think and reflect about their own worldviews and how these views might have been shaped through different theological, cultural, and social science lenses.  Through children’s weekly Religion and Worldview lessons, pupils are encouraged to foster a questioning mind when exploring the diverse cultural, spiritual, and religious faiths from across the globe (Article 30). We encourage children to make links and explore similarities and differences across and within religions and how this shapes cultures across the world. We aim to give children opportunities to embed their learning further by undertaking trips to special religious, cultural and non-religious places, so that they can understand the significance and importance that these places have to others and how these areas form and contribute to the communities around them. Learning activities provide fully for the needs of all learners. Pupils will be inspired by the subject and develop a wide range of skills such as enquiry, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and reflection, to deepen their understanding of the impact of religion and worldviews on the world.  

 Why Religion and Worldviews Matter

The ability to understand the faith or belief of individuals and communities, and how these may shape their culture and behaviour, is an invaluable asset for children in modern day Britain. Explaining religious and non-religious worldviews in an academic way allows young people to engage with the complexities of belief, avoid stereotyping and contribute to an informed debate.

- https://www.religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk. 

At St. Michael's, we follow Understanding Christianity for our Christianity units, whilst using Somerset's Locally Agreed Syllabus alongside additional resources from NATRE and Oak Acadmey for other religious and non-religious worldviews. An enquiry-based approach to teaching and learning is used in RE at St. Michael's CofE First School.

We ensure that our children experience the Christian story through a theological and conceptual basis, taking seriously Christian accounts of the ‘big story’ of salvation and the relationship of the pupils to these texts.

By addressing key questions, Understanding Christianity encourages pupils to explore core Bible texts, examine the impact for Christians and consider possible implications. Each unit incorporates the three elements:

• Making sense of the text
• Understanding the impact
• Making connections 

Throughout the course children explore the “Big Question” and art, music, discussion, dance and drama are also used to help the children build knowledge and understanding and then reflect on the subject of the enquiry.