Welcome to our religious education (RE) webpages providing information, advice and resources to support the teaching of religious education in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire schools. Please read our Latest RE Updates, shared at the Illuminate sessions across the Diocese, for headlines about ideas, initiatives and resources to support quality RE teaching and learning. More information is available below. Please also check out the Schools Training Support and Events page for information about training courses.
All our Church of England Schools in Gloucestershire follow the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education which dovetails with the ‘Understanding Christianity’ resource. Voluntary controlled schools in South Gloucestershire follow the South Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education.
If you would like further details of these, or information on any other aspect of RE, please contact Debbie Helme on
RE and Art Competition
This is an exciting opportunity for pupils to link RE reflections with art to produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences or the experiences of others. Please see the attached document for further in depth information: Details for Reflections on Faith RE & Art Competition
Joint Cathedral and Mosque / Synagogue Visits 
For over three years the Cathedral Education Centre has been organising and running very successful joint visit days for school groups wanting to visit more than one place of worship on the same day. The Cathedral Education Centre will provide dates and a full itinerary for joint visits to the Cathedral and the Masjid E-Noor (Mosque) on Ryecroft Street, Gloucester and the Cathedral and the Synagogue in Cheltenham. Due to their popularity there is now limited availability for these days, so book as early as possible to avoid disappointment. For further information, contact Also, please see the Gloucestershire Visits and Visitors Guide for RE
Contact details for visitors and visits A comprehensive list of contact details to support teachers to arrange visits and invite visitors into schools has been compiled by the Gloucestershire SACRE. You can find this resource here
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
2. Model template assessment proformas
3. Long term planning template single year groups (Gloucestershire schools)
4. Long term planning template two year rolling programme (Gloucestershire schools)
5. Long term planning template two class school (Gloucestershire schools).South Gloucestershire schools can access examples of long term planning by contacting Debbie Helme
6. Feb 2019 Updated RE Statement of Entitlement for Church schools
Why should I go to a Deanery RE Hub Meeting? If you are an RE subject leader, if you enjoy teaching RE or even if you find RE a struggle then these hub meetings are for you! They are informal, after-school meetings within each deanery, which offer teachers the chance to meet together and talk about how RE is going in their schools. It will provide a chance to talk to colleagues and get practical advice and tips to help move things forward. For those passionate about the subject, it’s a chance to share what is going well and inspire others. For those leading the subject, it’s a chance to keep up to date with resources, training and new initiatives. Each meeting is led by an RE Hub Leader who will follow an agenda and will also allow opportunity for discussion. All are welcome and there is no cost. To help Hub Leaders make sure they have sufficient refreshments and resources, please contact the Hub Leaders directly to let them know that you will be attending and to check the exact day and time of the meeting. See below for details.
RE Hub Meeting Dates
- Spring Term meetings to be held in the week commencing Monday 1 March 2021
- Summer Term meetings to be held in the week commencing Monday 7 June 2021
RE Hub Leader Details
- Cheltenham Deanery Hub, Tanya Harris
- Cirencester Deanery Hub, Claire McLaughlin
- Forest Deanery Hub, Caitlin Cooke
- Gloucester & Stroud Deaneries Hub, Rachel Millard
- North Cotswold Deanery Hub, Karen Harding
- Severn Vale Deanery Hub, Adam Stanton
- Wotton Deanery Hub, Jane Blaken
1. What is Godly Play?
2. How can we explore RE in an outdoor adventure context?
3. What is Active RE?
1.What is Godly Play?
Godly Play is a creative and imaginative approach to developing Christian spirituality. It uses symbols and objects as well as words, it values process, openness and discovery and it encourages children to make meaning for themselves. It invites listeners into stories and encourages them to connect the stories with personal experience through the use of wondering questions and open-ended responses.
Alison Summerskill has 20 years of experience in leading Godly Play sessions with children’s groups in churches and is a Godly Play trainer. In conjunction with the Education Department at the Diocese of Gloucester, Alison is now able to offer Godly Play sessions that have been specially amended to support RE in a school context.
Sessions available linked to the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for RE:
- Creation (Gloucestershire RE Syllabus units F1, 1.2, L2.1)
- Salvation (Gloucestershire RE Syllabus 1.5, L2.5 & U2.5)
- Kingdom of God (Gloucestershire RE Syllabus L2.6)
Outline of each session:
Each session to last one hour with groups no more than 30 – smaller if possible, 30 minutes settling into circle and story time, 20 minutes responding and 10 minutes mini- feast and completion.
For further information contact Alison Summerskill
2. How can we explore RE in an outdoor adventure context?
Following the great success of the Experience Christmas Adventure at Viney Hill Christian Adventure Centre, 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, staff at the Centre now plan to offer ‘Experience Easter Adventure. To find out more, book dates or discover what they can offer for bespoke RE Curriculum days, please contact
3. What is Active RE?
PSALMS, a Christian charity based in Gloucestershire, has developed a series of lessons to enhance and compliment RE which are linked to the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for RE. The lessons utilise a method which engages with sport, games and physical activity. Although they have limited capacity, PSALMS are beginning to take these lessons into more schools across the Diocese for a small charge. If this is something you would like to find out more about, please register your interest with
4. The REaction Award
This is a new initiative, launched by Gloucestershire SACRE, to celebrate and recognise school commitment to better Religious Education. We are hoping to encourage as many church schools as possible to apply for it during 2019-2020. In order to qualify for the award, schools simply need to complete three simple tasks. For further information, please see: REaction information and REaction application form .
