Our world is enriched by a wide and profound diversity of cultures and beliefs. Human beings are strengthened and empowered by learning from each other. Engaging and stimulating RE helps to nurture informed and resilient responses to misunderstanding, stereotyping and division. It offers a place of integrity and security within which difficult or ‘risky’ questions can be tackled within a safe but challenging context. Religious education contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
In RE pupils discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions, in local, national and global contexts, through learning about and from religions and other world views. They learn to appraise the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response, and to agree or disagree respectfully.
Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and other world views, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities. It should develop in pupils an aptitude for dialogue so that they can participate positively in society with its diverse understanding of life from religious and other world views.
Pupils should gain and deploy the skills needed to understand, interpret and evaluate texts, sources of wisdom and authority and other evidence. They learn to articulate clearly and coherently their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences while respecting the right of others to differ.
How Is RE Taught At Howard Park?
The RE curriculum is based on the Local Agreed Syllabus for Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds produced by SACRE for teaching from September 2019.
Pupils focus on the following three strands:
- To investigate the beliefs and practices of religions and other world views, including:
- Beliefs and authority: core beliefs and concepts; sources of authority including written traditions and leaders;
- Worship and Spirituality: how individuals and communities express belief, commitment and emotion.
- To investigate how religions and other world views address questions of meaning, purpose and value, including:
- The nature of religion and belief and its key concepts;
- Ultimate Questions of belonging, meaning, purpose and truth.
- To investigate how religions and other world views influence morality, identity and diversity, including:
- Moral decisions: teachings of religions and other world views on moral and ethical questions; evaluation, reflection and critical responses;
- Identity and Diversity: diversity among and within religions and other world views; individual and community responses to difference and shared human values.
RE is timetabled so that pupils are provided with approximately 45 minutes of RE per week. Lessons will be delivered weekly by the class teacher but will be enhanced by visitors in assemblies and drop down/off time table day during the year.
Similar to PSHE, pupils do not record work in individual workbooks. Instead, whole class books are produced that capture each lesson’s learning and journey. Within these books examples of pupils’ work and responses are captured, along with evidence of assessment.
To find out more about our RE curriculum, please follow the links below.