R.E.
INTENT
At John Wesley CEM Primary School, Religious Education is a core subject that helps children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain; We want to develop the pupils in developing their understanding of religion and belief as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it.
As a school, we intend that Religious Education will be taught throughout the school in such a way as to reflect the overall aims, values, of the school. At John Wesley CEM Primary, Religious Education plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of our children.
As a Church of England and Methodist Voluntary Aided Primary School, high quality RE teaching and learning is considered a fundamental aim within the school’s curriculum.
IMPLEMENTATION
At John Wesley CEM Primary RE is taught based around The Big Story and big questions, in accordance with Understanding Christianity and supplemented by Methodist Units from the Methodists schools and the Kent Approved Kent agreed syllabus to teach other world faiths. It is coherently planned and sequenced including a balanced mixture of Christianity (66%%) and other world religions (Hindu Dharma, Islam, Sikhi and Judaism). Using these units ensures that the skills and knowledge delivered through the spiral curriculum learning is firmly embedded and built on as children revisit ideas, concepts and religions.
The teaching of Religious Education makes a distinctive contribution to the school curriculum as it allows all pupils to explore, question, understand and express their own response to spiritual and religious approaches to life. Our Religious Education curriculum provides high quality teaching and learning, which in turn enriches the children’s learning experiences.
At the John Wesley CEM Primary we are a Church of England Methodist Voluntarily Aided school which means that we are privileged to be involved with both churches. As a school we have developed a positive working relationship with both churches and the curriculum is enhanced with visits to and from these places of worship as well as from people of world faiths in our community.
Our RE curriculum is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities by the teacher as necessary. It is a curriculum that is broad, balanced and inclusive for all pupils.
‘Understanding Christianity’ will:
- Provide your child with a theological and conceptual basis of Christianity through exploring Christian accounts of the ‘big story’ of salvation
- Provide a clear outline of core knowledge in relation to Christianity
- Explore essential background information to Christian concepts
- Teach children how to use the Bible and apply teachings to their own lives
There are no presumptions made as to the religious backgrounds and beliefs and values of the children and the staff. We value the religious background of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others freely. All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we value the links, which are, and can be made between home, school, and a faith community. We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils. We promote teaching in Religious Education that stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children.
IMPACT
The children at John Wesley CEM Primary enjoying learning about faith and why people choose, or choose not to follow a religion. Through their R.E. learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. R.E. acts as a hub, therefore, between social aspects of learning, science and geography. Through R.E. our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community. R.E. also offers our children to ask why, how and ‘I wonder’ questions and to present arguments and debate topics important to them in a safe and respectful environment.
Children show high levels of self-awareness and model respect and empathy for others. Pupils will use specific skills and vocabulary taught in lessons across other aspects of the school day and school life.
R.E. offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way. As such, R.E. is invaluable in an ever changing and shrinking world.