quality Religious Education that enables them to develop an understanding of the world around them. We use 'Understanding Christianity' and the agreed diocesan syllabus of Newcastle and Durham to teach RE.
The Aim
- To enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living world faith, by exploring core theological concepts
- To enable pupils to develop knowledge and skills in making sense of biblical texts and understanding their impact in the lives of Christians
- To develop pupils’ abilities to connect, critically reflect upon, evaluate and apply their learning to their own growing understanding of religion and belief (particularly Christianity), of themselves, the world and human experience.
The Approach
The approach developed for Understanding Christianity is based on the use of core concepts of Christian belief, as expressed in the Bible and lived out in the lives of Christians today. The core concepts reflect a view that the Bible tells a ‘big story’ of salvation. The approach in RE is to revisit the core concepts throughout the different key stages, deepening pupils’ understanding and making the links to the overall ‘big story’ or ‘salvation narrative’.
This is not the only way to describe Christian thought and practice, and of course there is real diversity within Christianity itself, but it sets a good foundation for understanding the heart of the Christian faith.
The teaching and learning approach enables pupils to engage with a variety of Bible texts in order to explore how Christians understand the core concepts. It explores ways in which Christians might live in the light of these texts, within the Christian community and in their individual lives. It allows pupils to reflect on some of the questions and puzzles that arise from the Bible, and to consider any implications or connections with their own lives and ways of understanding the world.
These materials incorporate activities that explore Christian response(s) to the biblical text, as well as the pupils’ own responses, whether they are Christian, atheist, agnostic, or from a faith tradition other than Christianity.
The approach and resources offer a wealth of ideas and materials for a serious engagement with Christianity in RE, in a coherent and systematic way.
