In voluntary aided schools, the governing body controls the religious education and this must be according to the rites, practices and principles of the Church in England. We provide guidelines to support this and support is available from our RE Adviser and School Consultants.
In voluntary controlled schools, the religious education must follow the locally agreed syllabus unless parents request that it is according to the rites, practices and principles of the Church in England or Church in Wales.
New RE Syllabus for Primary Schools
The new RE Syllabus for Primary Schools in the Diocese of Chester can be seen here.
For assistance in assessing RE in the Diocesan syllabus, click here.
To see current in-service training being provided, see the latest newsletter here.
Secondary RE Framework
Download the Revised Framework for Religious Education in Church of England Secondary Schools and Academies
Other information
For suggestions about what to include in the RE Curriculum about the Church of England, click here.
Brief information about the Diocese of Chester and some of its historic parishes can be found here.
Information about the church's calendar can be found here.
Teaching about the Trinity in Primary Schools
This little booklet from South Eastern advisers has some good ideas to help teaching primary children about the Trinity.
First World War Resources
The Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales has produced resources to help schools remember the First World War. The first three Units and Resources have been written by Lat Blaylock of RE Today.
Suggested age ranges are 6-7 years, 8-11 years, 11-14 years although all are adaptable.
Each delivers eight hours of specific RE but are adaptable with cross curricular suggestions and time frames to suit your teaching.
They are free of charge to download, adapt and use as you choose.
To see them click here.
Places of Worship
Jane Brooke and Sue Glover have produced a list of possible places of worship which are suitable for schools to visit. To download the list, click here.
Visits to places of worship of other faiths
Some parents have objected to visits arranged by their schools to places of worship of other faiths. Parents do have the right to withdraw their children from Religious Education, but it is regrettable when this occurs. The following statement may assist:
In all church schools collective worship and the whole ethos are based on the teachings of the Church of England. This makes our schools distinctively Christian.
However, within this Christian environment, it is entirely appropriate and necessary in today’s world, that respect for the great world faiths is fostered in Religious Education. This respect must be based on an accurate and sympathetic understanding of the other faiths which is consistent with the school’s loyalty to its Christian foundation. This approach provides learners with a greater understanding of the world and society in which they are growing up. Children are able to see the faith of others in relation to their own.
We seek to build up harmonious relations within communities, promoting inclusion for all and combating the evils of racism.
In order to successfully achieve our aims, we believe it is appropriate for children to have supervised visits to places of worship of different faiths and also to hear from adherents of those faiths about their beliefs. Such events must always be under the supervision of members of staff ensuring that such events are only to provide information.
Cathedral Presentation
The Cathedral have produced a very useful PowerPoint presentation which can be used:
- to introduce Chester Cathedral
- to reinforce learning after a visit to the cathedral
- to compare the cathedral with a local church.
To download it click here.
Noah PowerPoint
This presentation of children’s work is designed to use with teachers or pupils and accompanies an article by Jane Brooke in RE Today. It is used with their permission.
To download it click here.
Revelation PowerPoint
The exhibition ‘Revelation’ by textile artist, Jacqui Parkinson was on display in 2017 at Chester Cathedral. The following PowerPoint includes vibrant and exciting illustrations based on the book of Revelation. Permission was granted to Jane Brooke to create this PowerPoint of the artist’s work for use in schools.
To download it click here.
RE Quality Mark
If you would like information on the RE Quality Mark here.
Other Publications
To see publications available for purchase, click here.