Religious Education

Through RE and Collective Worship lessons, children are given the opportunity to build up a knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith. We work closely with the Parish Church of St Stephen's whose team come into school on a weekly bases to lead a collective worship assembly.

During RE lessons children will be taught the skills of reflection, empathy, communication, analysis, evaluation, reasoning and enquiry through planned activities. We encourage children to debate their views as well as share their 'big' questions about God. To enrich their experiences of RE children are able to explore a range of religious artefacts and visit places of worship.

As we are a Church school we devote a greater amount of time in the curriculum to the study of Christianity. We also cover four other world faiths - Judaism, Sikhism, Islam and Hinduism. Each year group will focus on a different world faith and this learning is very much enriched by guest speakers from the local and school community as well as the children themselves.

Our school values of friendship, thankfulness, kindness, forgiveness, respect (for the environment), service and peace underpins all that we do at St Stephen's.

We expect that our pupils are enabled to:

• develop positive attitudes to other people, respecting their rights to hold different beliefs from their own
• develop an awareness of the multi-cultural society they live in and the influence that beliefs, values and traditions have on individuals and cultures

Religious Education Inspection

As a church school, St. Stephen's receives an inspection of Collective Worship and Religious Education in addition to the Ofsted inspections.  In October 2023, the school was deemed to be OUTSTANDING.

The report said "St. Stephen’s, through its distinctive Christian character, is outstanding at meeting the needs of all learners".

The Statutory Inspection for Anglican and Methodist Schools inspects the school in the following areas:

• Christian Distinctiveness
• Collective Worship
• Religious Education
• Leadership and Management of the Church School
• These aims are rooted in the Christian ethos of our school.

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