Religious Education & Class Worship

Mells Church of England First School and Beckington Church of England First School are Voluntary Controlled Church of England Schools which means that they are schools run by Somerset County Council but which still retains its important links with the Church of England through St Andrews Church (Mells), St George's Church (Beckington) and through the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

 

Our Religious Education provision is based on the Somerset's "Awareness, Mystery and Value" curriculum, alongside this we also use 'Understanding Christianity'.

 

Each year/class focuses on Christianity and another faith throughout the year. In reception they will spend time looking at different festivals, such as Diwali, Hanukkah and Holi Festival. This means our children can draw meaningful comparisons and identify contrasting features between different world faiths and Christianity.  Our RE curriculum follows a two year rolling programme which ensures children experience the required 50% or more of work on Christianity, as well as covering other religions such as: Judaism, Hinduism and Islam. 

 

Christian principles are embedded in our aims and vision for the school and underpin our ethos.

Throughout each term we follow one of our Christian Core Values: 

 

Respect    Charity and Service    Empathy and Compassion    Love    Honesty and Truthfulness    Courage

 

As part of our induction, in September, each class writes their own prayer which is then said each and every day. In each daily act of collective worship, which is led by a different member of staff, there is a prayer and time for reflection. Weekly singing assemblies and celebration assemblies are strong features of our assembly calendar. Our core values are integral to our collective worship programme. At Mells  celebration assemblies are lead by each class / year group and parents are invited.  At Beckington parents are invited to collective worship on Thursdays which are led by members of the local community.

 

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Collective Worship and if they wish to do this they must meet with the Headteacher and put their request in writing.  

 

At Mells the children attend services at St Andrews Church throughout the year (e.g. Harvest, Christingle and Easter) led by the school and/or Father Clive. Parents and friends of the school are always welcome.  At Beckington the children attend services at St George's Church.