Religious Education

We live in a multi-cultural, multi-faith society and at St John’s Primary School we will prepare children to be well-rounded, active participants of this community by giving them knowledge and understanding of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and where appropriate, non-religious beliefs. We will spend more hours teaching Christianity in accordance with national guidelines. We will foster an ability to understand how these religions influence individuals, communities, society and the world.

Aims

Through RE, St John’s Primary School aims to provide opportunities for children to:

• develop their knowledge and understanding of, and their ability to respond to, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and where appropriate, non-religious beliefs
• explore issues within and between faiths to help them understand and respect different religions, beliefs, values and traditions and understand the influence of these on individuals, societies, communities and cultures
• consider questions of meaning and purpose in life
• learn about religious and ethical teaching, enabling them to make reasoned and informed judgements on religious and moral issues
• develop their sense of identity and belonging, preparing them for life as citizens in a multi-faith society
• develop enquiry and response skills through the use of distinctive language, listening and empathy
• reflect on, analyse and evaluate their beliefs, values and practices and communicate their responses
• link the teaching of R.E. with Philosophy and PSHCE

R.E. does not seek to enforce religious beliefs on children or to compromise the integrity of their own beliefs by promoting one religion over another.
Schools have to teach R.E. but parents can withdraw their children for all or part of the lessons. Pupils can choose to withdraw themselves once they’re 18.

We follow the approved Surrey Syllabus for Religious Education. RE is taught as a discrete subject in a block of lessons within a term/half-term. We enrich this teaching with our Assemblies, in which the children learn about different festivals from a range of faiths and belief systems; we look to highlight common themes and celebrate differences.

For each class, a thematic topic at the end of the year allows the children to explore a theme (e.g., Why do people pray?) which includes all faiths. This thematic unit enables the children to draw on prior knowledge to answer the core question posed; it gives the teacher an opportunity to assess how much knowledge the children have retained and applied, leading us to evaluate teaching and learning.