FRODSHAM Manor House Primary School has been awarded a Gold certification for their work in Religious Education – the third time the school have been awarded the highest level of a national accreditation in the subject.
The REQM Gold celebrates the work of staff and pupils and shows the school’s commitment to achieving excellence in the curriculum.
RE lead Naomi Anstice said: “As a community school we provide our pupils with an inclusive worldviews approach to learning about religion in the world around them which is essential to their growth as a citizen in modern day Britain.
“As well as learning about beliefs and practices, they also learn to question, to analyse and to consider their own personal influences and worldview. Through our RE lessons we also teach empathy, respect, diversity and anti-racism.”
The school has a team of Diversity Ambassadors whose voices are regularly heard about their RE curriculum.
Classes regularly welcome visitors to their RE classes including recent speakers on Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Humanism and also learn about Sikhi and Hindu Dharma. The Year Two class recently interviewed members of the North London Reform Synagogue and had a virtual live tour over Zoom.
They planned their questions about Shabbat in the home and synagogue. Year 4 had a places of worship tour to Liverpool visiting a synagogue, mosque and cathedral. Many of the classes work with Imran Kotwal on an annual basis including finding out about Hajj.
Year 6 work with the Anne Frank Trust annually on anti-prejudice workshops and voices of equality. The school are also grateful to the support they receive from Frodsham Churches Together, St Laurence’s, Main Street Chapel and Frodsham Methodist Church.
Last summer, four pupils gave a presentation about the importance of RE to 150 Cheshire West teachers at Forest Hill’s.
As part of the assessor visit for the REQM pupils were questioned about the subject as well as the subject lead and head teacher and all pupils completed a survey about the subject. Samples of work, planning and assessment were all considered to achieve the Gold standard. Feedback from the REQM assessor, Imran Mogra stated that the “RE provided at this school is a beacon for forward and future looking schools… The children have very positive attitudes towards learning RE and worldviews and the relevance of the subject in their daily lives”.