Religious Education in Church of England Schools
Religious education is an academic subject giving children and young people an understanding of how beliefs and values affect our lives. Pupils in Church schools learn about Christianity and other major religious and non-religious views. Christianity lies at the heart of the curriculum because Church schools reflect the Christian Gospel in all they do. The youngest pupils are introduced to Christianity as a living faith related to the values, attitudes, relationships and aspirations exemplified in the school community. They are not expected to become committed Christians. Pupils from all faiths and none enjoy engaging and inspiring religious education related to real life experiences.
In a Voluntary Aided (VA) school the Governors are responsible for the RE curriculum. Liverpool Diocese advises governors in VA schools to adopt the Diocesan Syllabus. The Diocesan Board of Education had adopted the Blackburn Syllabus. This was updated in Autumn 2017 and incorporates the Understanding Christianity resource.
In Voluntary Controlled (VC) Schools, the Locally Agreed Syllabus, drawn up by the Local Authority’s SACRE must be used, however this can be supplemented with material from the Diocesan Syllabus.
The Church of England Education Office’s Statement of Entitlement for RE, is an extremely helpful guide to curriculum time and the balance of Christianity and other faiths. It can be downloaded at: