Advocacy - Actively promoting values, including British values

Stretton participated in the Diocesan Board of Education Christian Worldviews and Advocacy Project in 2021/22 and Stretton’s RE lead collaborated in writing resources for this project. This project explored ‘big questions’ including contemporary issues such as climate change, human relationships, the digital world, and politics. Learning resources for these topics have been developed and teachers are beginning to incorporate some of these into their teaching where appropriate (e.g. to support children in Year 6 to develop and reflect on their personal worldview).

Through their work in R.E., the aim is that pupils will learn that religions have a commitment to morality and social justice, to protecting our environment, and to deepening the experience of being human, understanding and reflecting on what it means to lead a ‘good life’.

R.E. makes a significant contribution to the promotion of community cohesion and an awareness of British values is important within this. By studying different faiths, visiting places of worship, and meeting people from religious and belief communities, the aim is that children will have an informed and empathetic understanding of the variety of faiths and worldviews followed in Britain. Our curriculum has been designed with breadth and balance to help promote respectful and tolerant flourishing for all.

R.E. is vital to ensure that children are equipped to understand and engage critically with religions and beliefs, and their representation in the media, since religion remains a significant and very influential public institution affecting cultural, social and political life.

In providing a rigorous approach to R.E., children will be supported to engage with complex and controversial topics which will challenge their preconceptions and require them to justify, evaluate and reappraise their views, recognising the legitimacy of changing personal opinions in response to informed debate.