Religious Education
“In religious education (RE), pupils enter into a rich discourse about the religious and non-religious traditions that have shaped Great Britain and the world. RE in primary schools enables pupils to take their place within a diverse multi-religious and multi-secular society. At its best, it is intellectually challenging and personally enriching. It affords pupils both the opportunity to see the religion and non-religion in the world, and the opportunity to make sense of their own place in that world.”
From Ofsted’s Research Review Series: Religious Education (2021).
What are we trying to achieve?
Religious Education is part of our ‘Big Idea’ of Identity and Diversity. Our RE curriculum acknowledges the breath and diversity of world views, religious and non-religious. The primary purpose is ‘Religious Literacy’ – the ability to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and belief .
We promote a balanced approach to RE and follows three disciplines:
- Theology in RE. This involves enquiry into:
- Key beliefs / concepts of a religion or worldview, both distinctive and shared.
- Sources of authority for religious beliefs e.g. sacred texts, religious leaders, divine revelation Particular beliefs about God, humanity, life, and the nature of an after-life.
- Differences in interpretation of key beliefs and changes in religious belief across time and culture.
- Human and Social Science in RE. This involves exploration of:
- Different customs, celebrations and rituals based on religious and secular beliefs.
- The influence of sacred texts and religious leaders on communities.
- Diverse interpretations of religious practices in different societies locally and globally, and at different times.
- Moral, ethical and practical lifestyle choices based on secular or religious worldviews.
- Philosophy in RE. This involves engagement with:
- Ultimate questions of truth, morality, purpose and meaning in life.
- Questions arising from religious and secular standpoints, texts or customs.
- Conflicting answers offered by religious and non-religious groups and individuals.
- Changes in questions and answers over time and across societies.
RE Themes
- Christianity
- Judaism
- Islam
- Hinduism
- Sikhism
- Humanism
Our RE Curriculum Progression of Knowledge and Skills shows how our children develop their knowledge and skills in RE during their time with us. This also lists the RE vocabulary we want our children to focus on in their lessons. Our children will learn many more words than this, but these are the key words that will help them understand RE and link the knowledge they have learned to other areas of the curriculum.
How do we organise learning?
To support the implementation of our RE curriculum we are guided by The Suffolk Agreed Syllabus 2023 ‘Where do I Stand.’
The scheme of work that we use is The Emmanuel Project. This follows an enquiry approach to learning and through each unit which starts with a specific question there is opportunities under the headings:
- Engage
- Enquire
- Explore
- Evaluate
- Express
- Extend
Over the year each year group will have ‘Big Questions’ which will allow the opportunity to compare across religions and world views.
Our RE Curriculum Overview shows the units of work our children will experience during their time with us.
RE is taught for 1 lesson across the school. This is shown in our example timetables.
Page updated on 06/07/23 by LL and KJD.
