RE (religious education)
Intent
Through a carefully designed programme of study- as devised by the Local Agreed Syllabus of ‘Believing and Belonging’ by SACRE; by the time a child leaves Crossley Fields, we would hope that they have developed an understanding of religious and non-religious worldviews and be able to comprehend their own values and beliefs. They will be able to articulate their own viewpoints, but also raise questions to understand how and why people think and behave differently in the world around them. Pupils will be encouraged to consider their own experiences, but also learn to value those of others- in turn celebrating diversity and being inclusive of everyone’s cultural differences. Ultimately, RE will foster a culture of community cohesion, adopting British Values in the hope to help to shape a diverse society for a better future through a holistic approach to Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC). Nevertheless, it is the parents’ or guardian’s prerogative should they wish for their child to withdraw from any aspect of the RE lesson- by considerately informing the child’s class teacher, with a written explanation sent to the Head Teacher.
Key approaches we will use to develop this are;
- Develop awareness of the fundamental religious faiths i.e. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism;
- Develop questioning skills raised by human experiences; and of how religious teachings can relate to them;
- Respond to such questions with reference to the teachings and practices of religions and other belief systems; including non-religious beliefs such as Humanism;
- Reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences in the light of their study.
Key skills we would expect the children to exhibit would be the ability to;
- Enquire and raise key questions about the relevant beliefs and practices of religions and other world views thereby gaining an increased understanding and empathy of our wide and diverse communities;
- Critically investigate how religions and other world views address questions of meaning, purpose & value thereby develop religious literacy, thinking skills and ethical judgements;
- Rigorously investigate how religions and other world views influence morality, identity and diversity including personal reflection;
- Analyse the question at hand, thereby to provide a reasoned and critical response to it.
