Religious Education

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 they learn about and from religions and worldviews in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. They learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response, and to agree or disagree respectfully.

Teaching therefore should equip pupils with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, 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 our society with its diverse religions and worldviews. Pupils should gain and deploy the skills needed to understand, interpret and evaluate texts, sources of wisdom and authority and other evidence.

Pupils learn to articulate clearly and coherently their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences while respecting the right of others to differ.

(National Association of Teachers of Religious Education)

The RE curriculum at Abbey View has been developed to provide a learning process in which pupils explore the themes and issues raised by religion and worldviews through key stage enquiries and concepts in the light of the pupils’ own experience and questions. RE is the opportunity to explore a major and distinctive dimension of what it means to be a person: the search for meaning, purpose and value in a wondrous but also often confusing and a sometimes-threatening world. RE offers pupils the chance to raise and reflect on perennial questions about life. In doing this, it draws on the rich history of the major religious traditions and other worldviews in Britain, giving due prominence to Christianity to reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain, are in the main, Christian.

There are two main educational purposes to RE. Firstly so that pupils can learn more about themselves and their place in the world from their study of religion and worldviews. Secondly, so that they can learn about religions and worldviews which have influenced the lives of millions of people and heavily influenced the development of different human cultures. RE is therefore both rigorously academic and personally significant.

The national requirements for Religious Education are set out in the 1944, 1988 Education Acts and section 375(3) of the 1996 Education Act:

‘Every Agreed Syllabus shall reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teachings and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain’. This is further explained in DfE circular 1/94 from which the following paragraphs are taken:

‘Religious Education is required to be included, alongside the National Curriculum, in the basic curriculum which all maintained schools must provide for their registered pupils; this includes those in reception classes and sixth forms and is not confined to pupils of compulsory school age’. (Paragraph 20.)

The agreed curriculum is built around a vision of education in which the core purpose is our development as human beings. ‘Religion and worldviews “is more than learning facts… it is about understanding the human quest for meaning, being prepared for life in a diverse world and having space to reflect on one’s own worldview” (CoRE report page 73).

The Four Aims of RE

To understand the nature, role and influence of religion and worldviews, locally, nationally, and globally.
To reflect on questions of meaning, purpose and value.
To formulate reasoned opinion and argument.
To enter into meaningful dialogue with people of different beliefs and backgrounds, appreciating and celebrating diversity, recognising what we hold in common, and respecting a shared humanity that can be experienced, expressed, and responded to in diverse ways.

Quality RE:

Teaches pupils about Christianity and other religions and worldviews so that they can understand the world better and develop their own sense of place within it.
Engages pupils of any religious faith or none and of all academic abilities and social backgrounds.
Enables pupils to engage with a range of sources such as texts, artefacts, and people.
Challenges pupils to question and explore their own and others’ understanding of the world.
Does not seek to urge beliefs upon pupils, nor compromise their own beliefs but rather to deepen their self-understanding and understanding of others.
Raises questions of identity, meaning, purpose and value and encourages pupils to reflect on experience, ways of living and ways of knowing.
Contributes positively and powerfully to the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of pupils (SMSC). Our Religious Education teaching ensure to promote Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC).
Provides opportunities for pupils to develop communication and thinking skills.
Explores visions of humanity and at the same time reflects on the depths to which humanity can sink.

Teachers will carefully consider the learning process when delivering the RE syllabus. This ensures that children are recognising the subject as academic, as well for their own personal development. Three key questions will be considered and explored as shown in the model below