St George's Church Of England Primary School

Introduction

St. George’s Church of England Primary School values the religious background of all members of the school community and understands the positive contribution they make across the wider society.

At St. George’s, all religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity. We value the links, which are made between home, school, and faith communities. 

We encourage engagement from faith groups in our community and members of our local Church regularly visit our school to carry out assemblies.  Additionally, St. George’s Church host our school for special celebrations such as Harvest and Easter as well as providing other means of support to our most vulnerable children. 

Intent

At St. George’s Church of England Primary School, we believe that it is important for all our pupils to learn from and about religion in accordance with the Religious Education in Church of England Schools Statement of Entitlement, so that all members of our school community can live life in its fullness.

The aim of Religious Education in our school is to:

1. Learn about religion, by:

• acquiring and developing knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principal religions represented in Great Britain
• developing an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, societies and cultures.
• enquiring into, and investigating the nature of religion, its beliefs, teachings and ways of life, sources, practices and forms of expression. It includes the skills of interpretation, analysis and explanation. 

2. Learn from religion, by:

• developing a positive attitude towards other people, respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own and towards living in a society of diverse religions
• developing the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues with reference to the teachings of the principal religions represented in Great Britain
• enhancing their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by:
• developing awareness of the fundamental questions of life raised by human experiences, and how religious teachings can relate to them
• responding to such questions with reference to the teachings and practices of religions and to their understanding and experience
• reflecting on their own beliefs, values and experiences in the light of their study.

Implementation

We follow the Discovery RE and Understanding Christianity shemes of work to deliver the RE curriculum.

Across all year groups, Religious Education will:

• adopt an enquiry- based approachbeginning with the children’s own life experience before moving into learning about and from religion.
• provoke challenging questionsabout the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, and issues of right and wrong, commitment and belonging. encourage pupils to explore their own beliefs (religious or non-religious), in the light of what they learn, as they examine issues of religious belief and faith and how these impact on personal, institutional and social ethics; and to express their responses.
• enable pupils to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society.
• teach pupils to develop respect for others, including people with different faiths and beliefs, and helps to challenge prejudice.
• prompt pupils to consider their responsibilitiesto themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society. It encourages empathy, generosity and compassion.
• develop a sense of awe, wonder and mystery.
• nurture children’s own spiritual development

Each year group will study two different faiths, one of which is Christianity with Christmas and Easter given new treatment each year and as such developing learning in a progressive way.  This progressive enquiry model enables children to be introduced to new faiths and ideas together with building on existing knowledge (knowing more and remembering more) and deepening understanding on key beliefs.

In Foundation stage, the curriculum is based upon 15-minute small play-based teaching lessons, which are then supported and strengthen through a wider variety of play activities with a themed approach.  This will help the children respond to a key learning question about the chosen world faith. These themes are Special People, Christmas, Celebrations, Easter, Story Time and Special Places.

In Key Stage 1 children will study Christianity in both year groups, and will be introduced to Judaism in Year 1 and Islam in Year 2.

In Key Stage 2, children will study key concepts of Christianity each year and will also study Hinduism (Year 3), Judaism (Year 4), Sikhism (Year 5) and Islam (Year 6).

The Discovery RE units of work follow an enquiry-based learning model. Teaching strategies are varied and mindful of preferred learning styles including the need to vary and adapt lessons according to children’s needs.