Every Child
Matters to God
Every Child Matters to God
Introduction
The current advice on Religious Education dates back to 1997. Since that
time there have been many developments in RE, not least of which was the
new National Framework for Religious Education which was supported by the
National Society on behalf of the Church of England.
The Education Committee of the LDBS did not share their view and it was
decided that the LDBS would produce something more distinctive, which
better matched the needs of the children in Diocesan schools and our
commitment to Christian education.
We began that process in the 2005/06 academic year and working with
members of the Education Committee produced a policy which was formally
agreed.
In 2006/07 a scheme of work was written to support the policy and sent out to
a few schools to trial.
The trial was overwhelmingly successful and amendments were few. In
2007/08 it was sent to all schools for their consideration and was well
received.
During 2006/07 and 2007/08 the LDBS also run a series of training sessions
on Godly Play. We know that this is now being used in many schools as part
of the RE curriculum.
The scheme of work is available in two forms to accommodate schools where
there are mixed age classes.
During the two years of trial the whole primary curriculum has changed and
the creative and more innovative approach that we took is now being mirrored
nationally. The curriculum is cyclical so that children revisit topics as they get
older.
In order to stay abreast of the times we would like to propose that the
document is issued in loose-leaf and electronic form so that as new resources
are published, new and additional units of work can be written, and added into
the scheme of work.
Anglicanism and RE
In a church school religious education has to be about more than imparting
information. Children should do more than learn about religion, they should be
learning from it and developing the knowledge that religion and faith have the
capacity to change lives. Religious education, taught well, can challenge
fundamentalism, ignorance and secularism, which often develop from
insubstantial and erroneous knowledge.
Religious Education in Anglican schools should reflect its broad theological
approach: we come to know God through a threefold encounter, with
scripture, with reason and with tradition.
 Scripture, which is normative for Anglicans, must be taken seriously
and not taught as a series of ‘nice’ or even primarily ‘moral’ stories: an
effort of historical and theological imagination is needed to allow young
people to interpret texts in their context.
 Equally important is reason: teaching should encourage whole hearted
critical engagement so that young people look for the meaning below
the surface.
 Thirdly, teaching needs to enable young people to locate themselves in
a living tradition which informs and nurtures them, and to which in turn
they can contribute.
Anglican schools should be inclusive. Any other position runs counter to
Gospel values. It is expected that children will learn about other faiths and
celebrate the diversity of this city. At the same time they will learn that they
are part of a worshipping community. Part of the programme of study should
therefore include that which is distinctively Anglican.
Religious education should permeate through many areas of the curriculum
and not be confined to the single weekly lesson. The skills that are brought to
bear in teaching any good lesson should also be applied to religious
education. At least 5% of curriculum time should be spent on RE. Collective
worship is not included in that time allocation.
Child Development and Play
Spiritual development and human development are two sides of the same
coin. The way in which young people are treated and the perceptions they
have about their relationships, will have a direct impact on their understanding
of God.
Many eminent writers on children’s spirituality emphasise the importance of
the faith community in which the child is growing. For many young people the
only encounter they have with the church is through school. It is important that
as part of the RE programme there are regular encounters with members of
the church family. In this way they see a model of a lively faith and have a
developing sense of their own place in the community. Through positive
experiences and examples of belonging, they will see the importance of faith
and commitment as part of personal choice about how life can be lived.
For young children play is an essential part of school life. The home corner, in
one of its many guises, can be an important place for children to work through
some of the issues that are bothering them. It is often possible to hear
conversations that are an obvious repetition of something heard at home or in
the classroom. It is through play and through stories that children begin to
explore the difference between fantasy and reality. They are learning what is
acceptable and what is forbidden and often testing that out, looking for
consistency.
When a new piece of information comes our way we try and file it with things
in an existing folder of our minds, sometimes we have to change the folder or
start a new one so that what we have learnt makes sense and can be
recalled. We are most at ease with ourselves when we have done all the
necessary adjustments and things seem to make sense and reflect reality.
This approach is mirrored in ‘Godly Play’ and it is for this reason that the
advice given for the Foundation stage and Nursery settings is to use that
model of teaching in Religious Education. The teacher creates a climate
which will allow the child to be immersed in the experience so that they will
feel safe and will be given opportunities to be autonomous and to grow in
confidence and self esteem.
Piaget tried to put these learning actions into stages which roughly correlated
to specific ages or phases of development; a belief he held, in common with
Maria Montessori, was that children learned best when they were immersed in
the experience and that happened most often when they were allowed to
choose what they were going to do and given sufficient time to accomplish the
task. This is the principle that lies behind the Godly Play approach.
Godly Play
Godly Play is way of teaching that is enjoyable, as well as being a way into
sacred stories, liturgy, reflection and religious language.
There is a series of books available by Jerome W. Berryman and courses
teaching the techniques are run within the Diocese.
The particular features of this approach are that:
a) everyday objects are invested with a deeper significance.
b) being quiet and thoughtful can be as much fun and as satisfying as
bouncing about.
c) verbal and non-verbal cues are used.
d) children are able to become totally involved; head, heart and hands.
e) visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles are employed.
f) there is an emphasis on the known and routine, so that the experience
feels ‘safe’ to the children.
g) access is offered to the mysterious things in life such as happiness and
sadness and the graciousness of God.
h) children are taught to respect other people and their possessions and
to treat them with care.
i) there is a model for living which includes action, reflection, engagement
and prayer.
j) rituals and patterns enhance the way people and communities live
together.
k) there is a simple introduction to meditation using the learning style that
best suits the child, so that the child’s experience can be personal
rather than just learning about a topic.
l) that ‘all ground is holy ground.’ Everything in life has the potential to be
special, to be holy because everything comes from God.
m) there is time for the child to think, to create and to be.
Every Child Matters
The document produced by the DfES in 2004 rests on five pillars or
expectations for every child.
These can be summarised as:
-being healthy,
-being safe,
-experiencing enjoyment and achievement,
-able to make a positive contribution to society,
-able to achieve economic well being.
In Church Schools the agenda is broader still and we would want every child
in our schools to know that they are precious to God. They are loved whoever
they are, whatever they do and that love is without condition. Of course this
love implies a deep concern for the well being of each child and this should be
reflected in the behaviour, anti-bullying and anti-racism policies of the school.
Christians believe that this unconditional love can only be given by the grace
of God.
Jesus was very clear with his disciples that children were important to him and
in fact in one of the clearest of Gospel messages is about the importance of
caring for children. He was angry when the disciples tried to usher away those
who brought children to be blessed. It is clear that Jesus in his relationship to
children, as he did so often elsewhere in his ministry, stood with the
marginalised and vulnerable.
Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as these.
Mark 10.10
To be healthy:
 Develop a positive self image and know ourselves to be a unique and
precious gift of our Creator.
 Appreciate and respect the body we have been given through attention
to our diet and way of life.
 Show consideration and respect for ourselves and for others with
regard to sex and relationships.
 Recognise the damage that is being done to our environment and its
impact on human life and consider actions that might remedy that
position.
 Develop a healthy mind through learning to be quiet and reflective.
 Learn how to control our emotions and be respectful of others.
To be safe:
 Explore the rules and principles that make communities and society
safe.
 Consider the principles that underlie religious belief and the impact that
they can have on everyday life.
 Investigate the stories of people of faith and what motivated such
people to live their lives in that particular way.
 Explore the response by faith communities to bullying and
discrimination.
 Begin to develop a personal code of conduct and awareness of how
the behaviour of self and others might, through personal choices,
impact in a positive or negative way.
To enjoy and achieve:
 Experience a wide ranging curriculum which includes all children in the
school.
 Provide challenging and exciting RE for all students, including public
examinations for the older ones,
 Offer the opportunity to meet and visit people for whom faith is
important.
 Explore the relationship between themselves and religion.
 Explore the fundamental questions about life.
 Provide space to undertake a personal journey of exploration.
To make a positive contribution:
 Learn about whom they are and what their unique place is in the world.
 Explore their role in the many different communities that are part of
human life e.g. family, school, friends, church or other religious group.
 Consider their place in the wider community and how it is possible to
influence the lives of others by our actions.
 Develop empathy.
 Learn to listen and contribute constructively in discussions.
 Learn to show respect for others and their right to hold opinions with
which we might disagree.
 Explore personal fallibility and weakness.
To achieve economic well being:
 Provide opportunities to obtain qualifications.
 Develop the confidence to interact with others in society whose world
view may be different.
 Explore the different attitudes of various faith communities to money
and wealth.
 Consider the differences between commercial and religious responses
to aspects of modern life e.g. advertising, investments, entertainment.
Religious Language
For Christians a major stepping stone in their journey of faith is learning about
the Bible. Religious books belonging to any faith are there to help humankind
understand something about reality. They help believers find a way through
their life, with stepping stones and signposts. Janet Soskice in her book
‘Metaphor and Religious Language’ describes them as providing ‘a way of
orienteering oneself in the world’
The Bible is an immensely complex library of books and therefore presents a
challenge in the way it is interpreted and taught. For non-RE specialists this
can present particular difficulties and can lead to the Bible being used in
schools in inappropriate ways e.g. myths and legends may be taught as literal
facts. The parables of Jesus may be misunderstood as events from his life
and exciting and vibrant metaphor may be reduced to the level of fairy tales.
Despite differences of interpretation all Christians believe that the Bible tells a
story about God, about why He created us and about how He wants us to live.
Through the Bible we can learn to know God in a very personal way and can
reflect on other people’s experience of God. The lives of people and the
things that happen to them are given meaning. Christians can through the
lens of that meaning relate what they read to their own lives and their own
experience of the world.
There are believers who teach that all that is in their sacred book is fact and
then miss out on all the wonderful images and metaphor that enriches and
deepens understanding. Soskice has a helpful summary of what the Bible can
offer.
Christianity is indeed a religion of the book, but not a book of this sort of fact.
Its sacred texts are chronicles of experience, armouries of metaphor, and
purveyors of an interpretive tradition. The sacred literature thus both records
the experiences of the past and provides the descriptive language by which
any new experience may be interpreted.
What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face to
face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete – as complete
as God’s knowledge of me. 1 Corinthians 13.12
If we accept that premise, then teaching children to understand and interpret
religious language becomes critically important and for that reason there
should be an increasing emphasis in RE. It is through that knowledge and this
deeper level of understanding and interpretation that young people are helped
to make sense of their reading, for some that may provide opportunities to
draw nearer to God and/or provide further opportunities for spiritual
development and enrichment.
Bibliography:
Joining Children on the Spiritual Journey by Catherine Stonehouse
Pub. Baker Book House Co 1998 & 2000
Metaphor and Religious Language by Janet Soskice
pub. OUP 1985 & 2002
Pedagogies of Religious Education edited by Michael Grimmitt
pub. McCrimmons 2000
The Complete Guide to Godly Play by Jerome Berryman
pub. Living the Good News 2002