RE has a high profile in the school. The ambitious curriculum encompasses Christianity and a range of world religions, building securely on prior knowledge. From reception, where pupils receive a firm foundation, pupils learn about faith and belief at an age-appropriate level. Creative approaches, such as art and music, capture their imagination. Pupils explore ‘different ways of thinking’ in a variety of ways. They offer mature and thoughtful responses to the big questions of life. Listening to the beliefs and opinions of others, they respect those different from their own. Visits to places of worship enrich their understanding of the lives of believers. Pupils’ knowledge of Christianity and world religions is strong.
SIAMS 2025
RE enables pupils to think theologically and explore the great questions of life and death, meaning and purpose; reflect on beliefs of people from different faiths and non-religious worldviews; see how religious belief is relevant today and face the challenge of Jesus’ teaching in a pluralist and post modern society; experience the breadth and variety of the Christian community and become active citizens, serving their neighbour.
As a staff we are committed to teaching our children about God and helping them to reflect and learn from God, which we carry through into our daily worship. Our theologically-rooted Christian Vision underpins our RE learning and everything that we do in school, and scripture from the Bible is shared with staff and children every week.
Religious Education has a central place in the curriculum for all of our children. As a Church of England VA school we follow the new LDBS Scheme of work. Please see our whole school RE curriculum map in related documents.
Spiritual Development
At HTSS we believe all children are innately spiritual and that throughout their lifetime they become more and more aware of their spiritual development. We are deeply committed to enhancing children’s understanding of who they are, what their place is in the world and how this impacts them, their friends, family and their lives.
Collective Worship
Every day our school community comes together for collective worship. As a Church of England school, our collective worship is centred on Christianity and our Christian Vision.
We encourage children to regard collective worship as a period of calm, thoughtful, respectful reflection. They listen carefully to the leader and each other and are invited to participate in prayer, singing engaging with Scripture and sharing how their learning reflects our Christian Vision. We create a peaceful atmosphere by using music and candles and other elements that act as a focal point for the attention of the children.
Every day, a different member of staff or clergy leads our collective worship. This is the current timetable for collective worship:
Monday – whole-school collective worship, in which Mrs Goll and Father Philip lead worship in line with the school vision.
Tuesday – collective worship in individual classes led by our parish priest, Father Philip.
Wednesday – collective worship in key stages, led by class teachers.
Thursday – collective worship and hymn singing led by the collective worship lead, Mr McIntyre.
Friday – class-led collective worship, where an individual class shares some of their recent learning and relates it to our Christian Vision, and we celebrate achievement in the school from the past week. Headteacher’s special mentions celebrate children who have demonstrated our core Christian values of Care, Courage and Cooperation. Parents/carers are invited.
Class Mass
Every year group from Y2 to Y6 celebrates a class Mass termly, and every term there is also an infant Mass and a junior Mass. Father Philip leads, assisted by pupils, and children and staff can come together, worship and receive communion. Please see the related documents for this Autumn term masses.
Christian Festivals
We also celebrate the major Christian festivals throughout the year. Parents and carers are invited to join us, either at school, or at our Parish Church; Holy Trinity Church. These include the Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Easter and Harvest services.
Church
We also hold a whole-school service in our Parish Church every term, to which parents and carers are welcome to attend.