RE

RE at Stondon Lower

Intent

At Lower Stondon we are predominantly white British therefore it is important that our children experience and have knowledge and understanding of a wide variety of cultures, beliefs and experiences.

As the children make progress through the school, it is expected that they can demonstrate a wider range of independent skills and knowledge in the curriculum. The following subject intent statement is taken from the Bedfordshire Agreed Syllabus for RE 2018 – 2023. The principle aim of RE is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes in how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living. To achieve this principle, we aim for all children to be able to do the following;

• Make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs
• Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs
• Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices, and ideas studied. 

Implementation

We use ‘Identities, Meanings, Values’ The RE agreed syllabus, 2018 – 2023 Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton as the core of our curriculum. At Stondon Lower, it has been agreed that having taken into account the requirements and guidelines presented in the Agreed Syllabus, the following religions have been selected for teaching and learning:

• Christianity
• Judaism
• Islam
• Sikhism
• Hinduism
• Non-religious beliefs

The syllabus outlines the main religions to be taught within each key stage. We follow this guidance and build upon the children’s knowledge each year.

• EYFS will learn about faiths and other cultural diversity as part of their growing sense of self, their own community and their place with in it. They will do this through make believe role play, dressing up, looking at different festivals, cultures and foods, and sharing a range of different stories and books.
• KS1 will learn about Christianity, Islam and/or Judaism.
• LKS2 will learn about Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and/or Sikhism

*Children may also encounter world views.

The following list of examples will be incorporated into the teaching of and learning about various cultures and religions;

• Celebrating religious/cultural diversity
• Handling artefacts
• Using imaginative play or drama to express feelings and ideas
• Sharing photos/videos/stories/food/clothing from different faiths/cultures
• Having regular opportunities to discuss pupils’ personal faith and beliefs in an open, trusting and respectful environment
• Visiting religious places of worship where possible – local churches, Queens Park Faith Tour in Bedford
• Visitors from local religious communities/parents
• Taking part in whole school events – school performances, celebrating religious/cultural festivals which also links to our assemblies

The teaching of RE makes a distinctive contribution to the school curriculum as it allows children to explore, understand and express their own response to spiritual and religious approaches to life.

Children will reflect on prior knowledge at the start of lessons by recalling key facts about the religion being studied. Their work will be recorded in various forms of evidence such as writing, artwork and photographs.

Parents have the right to withdraw children from all or part of the RE syllabus.  If you wish to withdraw your child please discuss this with the Headteacher. 

Impact

The children at Stondon Lower enjoy learning about diversity in religions and cultures. Through our RE lessons, they will extend their knowledge and understanding other people’s cultures and ways of life in which they can reflect on in an ever changing society. The children will;

• begin to understand that people may choose or choose not to follow a religion.
• demonstrate our school values by being respectful of different religions, cultures and ways of life.
• reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughts and beliefs.

As a result, the children will show high levels of self-awareness and model respect and empathy for others.