Religious Education
Highburton First Academy is a Church of England School. All the children have one hour of R.E each week as suggested by the statement of entitlement. At some point during their time at school they will have the opportunity to visit a mosque, a methodist church, a synagogue and the Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) as well as our local church All Hallows in Kirkburton.
Important R.E. Documents
Our Vision and Values
At Highburton C.E First Academy, our vision is to cultivate a vibrant learning community where every child is valued and empowered to flourish. We envision a school where kindness, helpfulness, honesty, and gratitude are woven into the fabric of daily life. Our commitment is to nurture independent thinkers who celebrate their uniqueness and embrace the power of collaboration.
"Every person is a rainbow waiting to shine."
Theological Underpinning
"Having wisdom and understanding is better than having silver and gold."
Proverbs 16:16
Our Vision Journey
How did we decide our new values?
- Back in 2023, we spoke to the children about which values they thought were important - not just in school but in life generally. Many values were suggested and discussed in each class.
- Each year group voted and chose one word that they wanted as part of our new vision and our rainbow of values.
- The parents had the opportunity to take part in a questionnaire to share which values they thought were important.
- We also discussed our ideas with staff and our governing body.
The Importance of the rainbow
- It was agreed that the rainbow was a special symbol for our school, the children walk under the rainbow as they enter school, it appears on their school uniform and it has 7 colours which related to 6 class in school and one collective value chosen by all of the adults within school.
- The rainbow of values was created - kind, helpful, honest, grateful, independent, unique and together.
- The children then used their finger prints to create a beautiful rainbow displayed in our main entrance.
- Then, we thought about how this linked to our key line "Every person is a rainbow waiting to shine."
- A rainbow is created when we have the sunshine and the rain. In life there are good and bad things that will happen, we have strengths and weaknesses that we recognise as individuals and these make us the person that we are. The rainbow is a sign of our journey through school, showing perseverance and resilience and being ready for our next steps.
Theological Underpinning and Bible stories
- Our theological underpinning encourages our children to understand that wisdom and knowledge are important in life.
- We further developed this by introducing the children to three bible stories - each with a message.
- Noah and the Ark - "The rainbow was a mark of God's promise to care for Noah, his family and his ancestors."
- Joseph - "He had high aspirations but his life was one disaster to another. His hope and trust in God remained and he never gave up."
- Paul the Apostle - "God used his unique talents to spread the gospel across the world."
Our Displays
- The children worked in mixed groups to produce some beautiful work to explain our vision and values in art form.
- At Highburton First Academy, we truly believe that "Every person is a rainbow waiting to shine," and this can be seen throughout our school.
Collective Worship Team
The Year 5 collective worship team are involved in the day-to-day routines of worship. They set up the hall ready for us to gather together, devise call and response, read bible passages and prayers.
We have daily collective worship in the hall or in our classrooms.
Monday - Whole school worship - Values based / PSHE awareness days, Whole school worship - Picture News.
Tuesday - Whole school worship - Values based.
Wednesday - Whole school worship - Singing Praise / Values based.
Thursday - In class worship and reflection.
Friday - Whole school worship - Celebration.
Easter Garden Competition
Our friends from All Hallows Church came in to talk to the children about The Easter Story.
They shared an example of an Easter Garden. The children were given the opportunity to take part in a
competition. Could they make an Easter Garden of their own?
The ladies from Church selected a winner from each class and they were presented with a book from Church
and a yummy chocolate treat.
World Religion Week
The whole school took part in World Religion Week and the children had the opportunity to move round to other classes and learn about other religions. The children learnt about Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Buddhism. They all created some beautiful work for display.
R.E. Area Displays
- Christian Symbols - What are the Christian Symbols and what do they mean?
- PSHE - Have you filled a bucket today? How can you make someone else feel good?
- All Hallows Church Visits - Year 3 and Year 4 Church visits
- Christian Values - What are the Christian Values and what do they mean?
- The First Christmas - How do we celebrate the birth of Jesus?
- The Creation Story - Created by Year 5
- The Kindness Elves - Watching out for Kindness acts displayed by the children!
- Throw Kindness around like Confetti - A board to demonstrate acts of Kindness
- Baptism - celebrations of birth - Created by Year 2
- New Years Resolutions - What would you like to achieve next year?
- Judaism - a topic covered by Year 3 during the spring term
- Harvest - What do we see at Harvest time?
- Christian Values Tree - What are the Christian Values?
- Thankfulness - What are you Thankful for?
