REligious education
At Greensted Primary School we provide a well-balanced RE curriculum which encourages curiosity, respect and self-reflection. Teaching RE involves religious beliefs, cultural identities, exploring different faiths as well as British values. It embodies an approach that values lived experience and diversity within and between religious and belief traditions, and encourages children and young people to engage critically with the big questions in life. During RE lessons pupils learn about other cultures and beliefs fostering an ethos of tolerance and respect.
At Greensted, we follow the Essex Agreed syllabus for Religious Education which reflects significant educational developments in religion and worldviews, offering challenge and depth for all students.
The RE scheme of work covers the six major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism and Buddhism and includes Humanism as a worldview.
RE plays an important role in preparing pupils for adult life and lifelong learning. It helps children and young people become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens.
Our RE curriculum “promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, social, mental and physical development of pupils and of society, and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.”
Through spiritual development, we aim for pupils to develop:
- The ability to be reflective about their own beliefs
- A sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
- To hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and worldviews, developing their ‘religious literacy’
- To develop an understanding of religious traditions and to appreciate the cultural differences in Britain today
At Greensted, we follow a clear progression of skills in RE. Click the logo to find out more!
Intent
At Greensted Junior School, we believe that engaging and purposeful RE lessons inspire and encourage children to articulate their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences whilst respecting others viewpoints.
The intent is to raise religiously literate children who understand the relevance of RE in today’s modern world and how it can shape our lives and contribute to personal morality and social responsibility.
As a school, it is our aim to instil a love of RE in all our children. To ensure this, we work hard to provide an interesting and varied curriculum that interests and intrigues our children whilst meeting the needs of all backgrounds, cultures and abilities.
RE provides opportunities to promote British values, defined as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and tolerance for those with different beliefs. Through these lessons, our pupils gain an understanding of how to challenge stereotypes and discrimination. Diversity is celebrated. This contributes to the inclusive school ethos that champions democratic values and human rights in the context of modern Britain. To support this, we provide a variety of enrichment activities including school trips to places of worship, school workshops on world faiths and celebrate religions and cultures during our multi-cultural week.
RE - Photo Gallery 1
Implementation
At Greensted Primary School we plan and deliver our RE lessons around the new Essex SACRE Agreed Syllabus. We use a comprehensive and complete scheme of work created by the Saffron Academy Trust. This is an enquiry-led, multi-faith syllabus viewed, considered and explored through three distinct lenses:
Theology - Thinking through believing. It is about asking questions that believers would ask. It requires pupils to think like theologians, exploring questions and answers that arise from inside religions and worldviews.
Philosophy - Thinking through thinking. It is about asking questions that thinkers would ask. It requires pupils to think like philosophers or to look at concepts through a philosophical lens. Pupils will explore questions and answers raised through considering the nature of knowledge, existence and morality.
Human/Social Science - Thinking through living. It is about asking questions that people who study lived reality would ask. It requires pupils to think like human and social scientists. Pupils will explore questions and answers raised in relation to the impact of religions and worldviews on people and their lives.
As Greensted Primary School plans each term with a particular theme, there are ample opportunities for cross curricular learning. For example, our year 6 topic ‘World War Two’ will include RE lessons on Judaism and religious persecution and our year 4 topic ‘The Egyptians’ will include RE lessons on Moses and his journey to the promised land.
The importance of and value of RE will always be apparent across the school through displays, themed weeks, enrichment activities and high quality work in books.
RE Photo Gallery 2
Impact
At Greensted Primary School, it is our responsibility to ensure that pupils deepen their RE understanding in a variety of ways embracing diversity and displaying tolerance and respect. Our Religious Curriculum is purposeful, engaging and is planned to demonstrate progression.
Books will show evidence of a range of topics covered, cross-curricular links and extended writing.
Conclusively, our end goal is to ensure that the children at Greensted Primary School can explain how beliefs and teachings make contributions to the lives of individuals and communities. They are able to make sense of religion and worldviews around them and begin to understand the complex world in which they live as well as considering their own values and views and their place in the world.
In order that pupils can become religiously literate, a multi-disciplinary approach is taught through the RE curriculum which will effectively prepare pupils for their studies in Key Stage 4 and beyond.
RE Photo Gallery 3
Click on the icon below to view the school's Religious Education Policy:
