RE

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Understanding Christianity

As a Church of England school, Christianity has a distinctive place within our Religious Education curriculum. We recognise Christianity as a diverse, living world faith that continues to shape individuals, communities and society both locally and globally.

To support high quality teaching and learning, we use the Understanding Christianity resource, developed by RE Today. This nationally recognised approach enables students to develop a deeper understanding of Christian beliefs, theology and practice.

Gemma Hathaway - Coventry and Warwickshire Religious Education Facilitator

Gemma Hathaway, our Senior Assistant Headteacher, is the Religious Education Facilitator for Coventry and Warwickshire. She supports schools across the region to strengthen RE. In this role, she supports the implementation of the Coventry and Warwickshire Locally Agreed Syllabus, develops high quality curriculum resources, delivers professional development for teachers, coordinates regional RE networks and events, monitors the quality of RE provision, and helps shape the strategic development of Religious Education across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Contributions/Projects the RE department have been involved in

Church of England – Christianity as a global world faith project

Our RE department is proud to have been involved in the creation and trialling of the Church of England's Christianity as a Global World Faith project.

This resource has been developed to complement the nationally recognised Understanding Christianity programme. It helps students to explore Christianity as a vibrant, diverse and global faith, challenging the idea that Christianity is primarily a European religion.

Christian Worldviews and Advocacy Project

Our RE department was also involved in the writing team for the Christian Worldviews and Advocacy project. This project supports teachers in exploring the diversity of Christian worldviews in a thoughtful and age appropriate way. The resources help students understand that Christians may hold different views on significant social and ethical issues, shaped by their theology, biblical interpretation, lived experience and context.

The project encourages students to consider why different Christians think, speak and act in different ways, including through advocacy and activism. It also supports pupils in reflecting on their own worldview, values and sense of responsibility in society.

Coventry and Warwickshire Locally Agreed Syllabus

Teachers from the RE department were members of the writing team for the Coventry and Warwickshire Locally Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education.

This syllabus provides the framework for Religious Education across schools in Coventry and Warwickshire, promoting a high quality, academically rigorous Religion and Worldviews curriculum. It encourages pupils to develop religious literacy by exploring a range of religious and non-religious worldviews through the disciplines of theology, philosophy and the human and social sciences.

Writers for RE Today Magazine

Teachers of RE, and other Blue Coat staff have written articles for RE Today, one of the UK's leading publications for Religious Education.

Through these articles, our staff share innovative classroom practice, curriculum development and approaches to teaching Religion and Worldviews with RE teachers across the country. By contributing to this nationally recognised publication, our department supports the wider RE community and remains at the forefront of developments in Religious Education.

Writers for RE Today Magazine

Farmington scholarship

Our Head of RE, Miss S Clemo, is currently undertaking a Farmington scholarship through the University of Oxford, researching 'How a Religion and Worldviews curriculum enhances a sense of belonging in the classroom.'

The Farmington scholarship supports teachers in carrying out educational research that contributes to the development of Religious Education.

Talk Radio Conference

In March 2026, our Head of RE, Miss S Clemo, presented at the ‘Teacher Talk Connect’ National Conference, sharing best practice on embedding a Religion and Worldviews approach in RE.

The presentation explored practical strategies for designing an inclusive, academically rigorous curriculum that helps students engage critically with a range of religious and non-religious worldviews.

Spirited Arts and Schools Bible project

Each year our students take part in a range of national Religious Education competitions, including NATRE's Spirited Arts competition and the Schools Bible Project.

These competitions provide opportunities for students to express their creativity, deepen their understanding of religion and worldviews, and reflect on big questions through art, writing and other creative media. We are incredibly proud that our students have achieved success at a national level, with entries from our school being recognised as competition winners in previous years.

Spirited Arts Entries

 

Results

GCSE Performance

GCSE Religious Studies outcomes are strong and are above the national average in RE. In 2025, 79% of students achieved Grades 9–4 and 72% achieved Grades 9–5. Over a third of students (355) attained the highest grades (9–7).

GCSE Results 2025

	Blue Coat RE	RE National Average
Grades 9–7	35%	28%
Grades 9–5	72%	60%
Grades 9–4	79%	74%