Religious Education (RE)

Intent

At The Avenue Primary School, the aim of Religious Education is to help children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. We aim to understand the way that religious beliefs shape our lives and our behaviour, develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and enhance our spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. 

It is our intent for the Religious Education curriculum to be equally ambitious for every child in order to engage, inspire, challenge and encourage pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore different religious beliefs, values and traditions and develop understanding of the numerous religious traditions, beliefs and practices that are followed in our multi-cultural society.

Implementation

Religious Education is a statutory subject of the curriculum for all pupils in each year group and ‘should be provided for all registered pupils except those withdrawn at the request of their parents.’ We ensure that we comply with the legal requirements by following the RE Today curriculum for Religious Education and Understanding Christianity and, as such, parents have the right to withdraw.

It has been agreed that having taken into account the requirements and guidelines presented in the Agreed Syllabus, the following religions have been selected for study: Christianity – through ‘Understanding Christianity’. As Christianity is the main faith, 50% of the RE teaching time is dedicated to this area. We use the RE Today syllabus to support out teaching and learning in: Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Sikhism. Children also learn about Buddhism and the non-religious world view: Humanism.

Our RE curriculum is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities by the teacher as necessary. It is a curriculum that is broad, balanced and inclusive for all pupils. Religious Education is taught on a weekly basis. Teachers may develop their own key questions linked to the themes in the syllabus, allowing connections to other subject areas where appropriate. Interactive, practical activities encourage the children to discuss their ideas and extend their understanding of difficult concepts and challenging questions.

Impact

The children at The Avenue Primary School enjoy learning about other religions and why people choose to, or choose not to, follow a religion. Through their R.E. learning, they are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. Through R.E, our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life and worship, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community. Our children develop their skills of enquiry and response through the use of religious vocabulary, questioning and empathy; skills of reflection, expression, application, analysis and evaluation of beliefs, values and practices, and the communication of personal responses to these.