Religious Education (RE)

RE Curriculum Overview

Intent

The R.E curriculum reflects the hugely diverse range of beliefs and people at the school. Pupils should be able to recognise their community within the teaching of R.E and within the school environment. The curriculum is built upon three key pillars; Skills, Empathy and Personal Development.

R.E will follow the skills based approach in place across the our curriculum, and will directly provide pupils the skills and confidence needed in order flourish and enjoy life. Through the second pillar, the R.E curriculum will provide the opportunity for pupils to build empathy and understanding in other peoples, as well as their beliefs, traditions and values. Pupils will be provided with many opportunities through which they can recognise the universality of the human experience. This in turn will help them build confidence and foster an accepting and understanding attitude.

The third pillar recognises the importance of R.E for pupils in developing their own spiritualism. Throughout their learning pupils will be encouraged to think about their own answers to our big questions as well as consider how they impact their own beliefs and place in the world.

Implementation

In order to successfully build these pillars, the curriculum will adopt an interpretive approach in which religion is viewed through the lens of the individual. We will leverage the wealth of local community experience and invite them in to share their own spiritualism with the pupils.

R.E is taught in weekly lessons and each half term pupils will focus on one of many “Big Questions” for example “If god is everywhere, why do we need places of worship?”. Within these questions secular meaning systems will be discussed and compared alongside traditional major religions with equal value and significance given.

We use Theatre of Learning (Music, lights, props and role-play) experiential approaches that allow the children to come as close as possible to placing themselves in the position of others. Then children are given the chance to discuss and debate these questions, not only critically but also acknowledging the importance of their own emotions and spirituality.

Impact

Our three key pillars of R.E define the direction we wish our pupils to develop through the R.E curriculum. Of equal importance to the development of their critical faculties is the emotional, personal and empathetic growth they undertake, preparing them to be kind, engaged global citizens in an ever more connected world.