Religious Education

Our children learn understand that people can have different faiths than themselves. They develop respect and tolerance.

Due to the large size of our school there are children with many different backgrounds so this collective understanding is imperative to aid the children’s appreciation of individual identities. They also develop an understanding of how having a faith can impact on a person’s life and have time to reflect on their own lives and what is important to them. There are links with other subjects such as morals and rules in PSHCE so that the children grow up to be independent, thoughtful and valued members of society. Work is displayed in ‘big books’, which allows the children’s work to be gathered and presented in different ways. All children in the school attend assemblies led by the local vicar, and they attend Christmas and Easter services at the church.

In Key Stage 1, children develop an understanding of different faith communities: key stories, places and special events such as Christmas and Easter. They begin to understand their place in their community and the wider world. RE lessons are enriched with weekly ‘open the book’ assemblies which focus on bible stories and are led by a volunteer from a local church. In addition to this, the children visit interactive ‘Christmas’ and ‘Easter’ stories which are offered by a different local church.

In Key Stage 2 children deepen their knowledge and understanding about different religions and their impact on individuals. They compare, and contrast, them to understand how having a faith impacts on people’s lives. The children understand that having a faith, religion or set of beliefs can contribute to how a person makes choices and approaches situations. This includes religious beliefs as well as non-religious responses such as Humanists.