‘Differences were meant not to divide but to enrich.’

J.H Oldham

Intent

At Lydney C of E Primary School, our R.E lessons are intended to offer children a chance to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Britain and the wider world. We aim to help our children understand the way that religious beliefs shape our lives and our behaviour and we want to help them to develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues. We intend to provide all our children with the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief. This will enable them to reflect on their own ideas and ways of living. We want our children to make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs in order to appreciate and appraise the significance of different ways of life, both locally and in the wider world. It is also our intention for children to make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs and to challenge ideas and evaluate thoughtfully, with increasing clarity and understanding. Being equipped with a secure level of knowledge will give all children the opportunity to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually particularly as they go to secondary school and in their lives beyond.

Implementation

We plan our religious education curriculum in accordance with the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus. The principal aim of Religious Education in Gloucestershire is to engage children with questions arising from the study of religion and beliefs, so as to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (Gloucestershire RE Agreed Syllabus). The Agreed Syllabus sets out three core elements which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within the teaching and learning about religions and beliefs. These three core elements are:

• Making sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs.
• Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs.
• Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied.

These elements set the context for open exploration of religion and belief. They offer a structure through which children can encounter diverse religious traditions alongside non-religious world views. We ensure that the topics studied in religious education build upon prior learning. We offer opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each unit, and we ensure that the planned progression built into the scheme of work offers the children an increasing challenge as they move through the school. 

Impact

The impact of our RE teaching can be seen in many ways from speaking and listening activities, drama, art, dance, talking to our children and in children’s’ books. In EYFS, KS1 and KS2, we would expect to see progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills.  As a result, children will show ambition, resilience and responsibility as they develop their knowledge and understanding. We envision our RE curriculum impacting on the children in the following ways:

• extend their knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs
• develop a religious vocabulary and interpret religious symbolism in a variety of forms
• reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular world-views
• explore ultimate questions of beliefs and values in relation to a range of contemporary issues in an ever-changing society
• Children are able to reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding