Our hope, for all in our family of church schools, is that Religious Education is a valued academic subject providing opportunities for pupils to confidently explore and discover what people of all faiths and worldviews believe and what difference this makes to the way they live. RE should also ensure pupils flourish as they gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief and reflect on their own ideas and ways of living. 
The syllabus for Religious Education is determined locally by SACREs (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education). For details of the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus please contact Debbie Helme details for the South Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus can be found here. In addition, all schools will be able to use the resource Understanding Christianity.
Religious Education plays a vital role in church schools, the expectations and standards required for the subject are clarified in the Church of England’s
RE Statement of Entitlement for Church Schools.
This is inspected under 2023 SIAMS framework (pages 10 & 11)
There are many ways the education team at the Diocese aim to support schools with these high expectations and aspirations. We train and resource RE Hub Leaders, facilitating them to lead local RE hubs regularly. We offer a range of bespoke and central training for RE. Please read the Diocesan Education Newsletter – DEN for regular RE updates.
If you have any specific questions around RE provision, please contact Debbie Helme, our Principal Advisor for School Christian Character incl. RE, Collective Worship and Spirituality.
These documents are intended as support and information for RE subject leaders.
Diocese of Gloucester Model RE Policy
Gloucestershire Visits and Visitors Guide for RE
Model Template Assessment Proformas
Long term planning template for single year groups (Gloucestershire syllabus)
Long term template for two year rolling programme (Gloucestershire syllabus)
South Gloucestershire schools can access examples of long term planning by contacting Debbie Helme
Additional units to support sections of the Gloucestershire syllabus for RE
When the Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in Gloucestershire was published in 2017, teachers found that many of the units on Christianity were strongly supported by the Understanding Christianity resource. Many teachers felt they would therefore appreciate more support with teaching some of the units on other world faiths or the more systematic units. In response to this request, the Gloucestershire SACRE have commissioned a number of supporting resources. To access these please contact Stephen Pett at RE Today.
Local RE Hubs meet regularly, virtually and with a face-to-face meeting in Cheltenham. Each meeting is led by an RE Hub Leader who will follow an agenda but also allow opportunity for discussion. These free, after-school meetings are informal, offer teachers the chance to talk about how RE is going in their schools and provide a space to share practical advice and tips. They are intended to support both those passionate about the subject and those finding it a bit of a struggle. To find out more and to book onto the sessions, please contact the RE Hub Leaders.
RE Hub Leader contact details:
- Tanya Harris ku.hc1728558968s.scu1728558968olg.i1728558968rp-se1728558968maj-t1728558968s@sir1728558968raht1728558968
- Jane Blaken ku.hc1728558968s.scu1728558968olg.t1728558968aoceu1728558968lb@ne1728558968kalbe1728558968naj1728558968
- Kate Crampton ku.hc1728558968s.scu1728558968olg.y1728558968elreb1728558968ma@no1728558968tpmar1728558968ck1728558968
RE Hub Meeting dates
The 2023/24 after-school RE hubs will be meeting virtually and in person in the following weeks:
Autumn Term
The online hub meeting will be held on Monday 18 November 2024 at 3.00pm-5.00pm. The Zoom link will be sent to all RE leads.
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3436291807?pwd=OFhJYlRaS3plNi9ubE8rSm1lSDEydz09
Meeting ID: 343 629 1807
Passcode: GL22LR
Spring Term
Hubs held during week commencing : Monday 17 March 2025
During the year we will also be holding moderation meetings. For further information please contact the hub leaders.
Please also look out for details on the annual SACRE Conference in May and the diocesan central training on Religious Education and the new SIAMS framework.
The Experience Journey Resources, from the Diocese of Gloucester publishing arm, Jumping Fish, are designed to help schools and churches work collaboratively to support pupils explore and discover the importance of festivals for Christians. The popular Experience Easter and Experience Christmas resources have now been augmented with new titles, such as Experience Advent (2021), Experience Lent (2021) and Experience After Easter (2022). Experience Easter Outside (2023) has just been published, adding to the range of resources, and is already flying off the shelves. Further details are available on the Jumping Fish website here.
RE & Early Years Foundation Stage
A selection of ideas to support teaching the Gloucester Agreed Syllabus to children in the early years using persona dolls can be found here.
Bespoke In-School RE MOTs
RE MOTs are an exploration and discussion of RE within the school and include discussion, identifying gaps and suggesting ideas for improvement. It will provide an opportunity to talk through the relevant questions from the 2023 SIAMS framework and support the school in identifying next steps.
The education team work hard with partner organisations to provide a range of supporting opportunities and initiatives for RE. These include liaising with members of other faith communities to support school trips, visits and visitors.
REaction Award
This is a competition run by SACRE – further details to follow
RE Opportunities at Viney Hill
Viney Hill is a Christian Adventure Centre and they have worked in collaboration with the education team to create special activity trails which link to RE units as well as the popular ‘Experience Christmas Adventure’ trail which included using tunnelling to consider the concept of incarnation and using bush craft and low ropes to make sense of the text in the Christmas story. To find out more, book dates or discover what they can offer for bespoke RE Curriculum days, please contact Viney Hill Adventures.
