Intent

At Crook Log Primary school, we believe that it is important for all our pupils to learn from and about religion in order to understand the world around them. We are proud to be a multicultural setting and aim for all our children to understand the different religions and cultures within our community in order to value our differences and our similarities. We follow the Bexley Agreed Syllabus which states “The principal aim of RE is to engage pupils in systematic enquiry into significant human questions which religion and worldviews address, so that they can develop the understanding and skills needed to appreciate and appraise varied responses to these questions, as well as develop responses of their own.” Religious Education is split into three strands. The three strands are as followed: Believing (Religious beliefs, teachings, sources; questions about meaning, purpose and truth); Expressing (Religious and spiritual forms of expression; questions about identity and diversity); and Living (Religious practices and ways of living; questions about values and commitments). We are keen to ensure that RE is not seen as simply an academic subject, full of facts and knowledge but an opportunity to spend a significant time each week exploring issues and questions through the prism of beliefs, theology and faith communities, as well as ‘non-religious’ philosophies including humanism.

Religious Education seeks to make a major contribution to the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development of pupils.

Implementation

As previously mentioned, Crook Log Primary School uses the Bexley Agreed Syllabus as the basis for our curriculum. In order to fully reflect the faith communities which make up our school, we have added units to cover religions not explicitly taught until Key Stage 3 otherwise. We ensure that the children explore Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The syllabus is structured around three strands, Believing, Expressing and Living.

In Nursery, the children celebrate festivals throughout the year and explore stories that are linked to them.

Throughout the rest of the school (Reception to Year 6), the syllabus is based around a key question approach in which the key question opens up the content to be studied. Some units focus on a particular faith, such as ‘What does it mean to be a Christian?’, but many focus on questions which encourage children to evaluate several different faith and world views approaches, such as ‘How and why do we celebrate special and sacred times?’ The units are planned throughout the year groups to ensure that children revisit religions in different contexts regularly. The children are constantly encouraged to evaluate beliefs in terms of the practical difference they make to the believer, e.g. in Reception, the children are encouraged to consider ‘What is special about our world and why?’ and in Year 6, the children evaluate their answers to ‘Is it better to express your beliefs in arts and architecture or in charity and generosity?’

Collective worship looks at the beliefs and practices of major world religions.

Cross-curricular links are made where possible in lessons with a particular focus on the children's Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development and their understanding of British Values.

Impact

The pupils at Crook Log Primary School enjoy learning about the different religions and world views. They are aware that people hold different points of view to themselves. They are given the opportunity to evaluate, develop and express their responses and insights, as well as becoming able to agree or disagree whilst still respecting others’ points of view. Pupils learn to understand others’ beliefs and communities as well as their own. They are able to approach the secondary school Religious Education curriculum with a firm foundation of knowledge, but also of skills to assimilate, evaluate and extend their understanding of the deeper issues met within and contributed to by religions or world views. They develop their own ideas, values and identities as members of a wider, multicultural, global community.