Vision

We believe it is important that we educate our pupils about different faiths: beliefs, values and traditions to allow awareness, reflection and develop a sense of their own identity within the world. We have chosen ‘Islam and Hinduism’ as two of principal religions to study to reflect our local community and when possible, we make links to significant events in the religions calendar at the appropriate times. Judaism was chosen for KS1 as it has a closer link to Christianity/Islam which children may find easier to associate and understand at a young age.

Intent
Edleston Primary School recognises the value of Religious Education (R.E). We believe that RE should help pupils to:

• develop a tolerance and respect for themselves and other people including their beliefs and cultures
• actively share information about their own faiths
• explore the beliefs, ethics, philosophy and lifestyles that Religious Education encompasses
• engage with challenging spiritual, moral, social and cultural [SMSC] questions that arise in their lives and in their community whilst promoting a sense of world citizenship
• formulate their own sense of purpose and priorities in life
• develop their own beliefs, ideals and values and to relate these to their relationship with others
• allow them to reflect upon themselves as individuals capable of experiencing life through the body, mind and spirit
• acquire knowledge of the religious beliefs, practices [including some festivals] and values in Christianity and other principal religions represented in Great Britain, particularly Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.
• provide a safe and secure environment for pupils to challenge prejudices and misconceptions
• encourage pupils to recognise and celebrate diversity in society
• enhance pupils’ understanding of history, art, music, literature and the media.

Religious education is centrally concerned with questions of fundamental importance to human beings. Pupils should be provided with a range of opportunities to:

• enquire;
• question;
• develop their own responses;
• formulate their own views to these fundamental questions as they encounter and respond to religion.

Our curriculum, which is aligned with the Cheshire East SACRE course, is designed to

encourage creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, discussion and independence where they can

develop an understanding and appreciation for the expression of beliefs, cultural practices and

influence of principle religions and world views in the local, national and wider global community.

Implementation

At Edleston Primary School, RE is as an area of learning in its own right as well as integrated where appropriate with other curriculum areas. It is taught mainly in discrete, regular weekly lessons however some units may be taught in ‘blocks’ over a few days.

RE Syllabus

The Cheshire East SACRE introduced a new RE syllabus in July 2022. The focus of this Agreed Syllabus is is designed to encourage creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, discussion and independence where they can develop an understanding and appreciation for the expression of beliefs, cultural practices and

influence of principle religions and world views in the local, national and wider global community.

The syllabus requires specific groups to teach specific religions:

• Foundation Stage - Christianity.
• Key Stage 1 -Christianity and one other principal religion (We chose Judaism as this links well with the understanding of Christianity)
• Key Stage 2 -Christianity and two other principal religions.  (Islam and Hinduism as we have a both these religions within our school setting)

For EYFS, RE links to Development Matters:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development [‘Self-Confidence and Self-Awareness’, ‘Managing Feelings and Behaviour’ and ‘Making Relationships’]
• Understanding the World [‘People culture and Communities’ and ‘The Natural World’]

The syllabus will provide opportunities for children to develop the following skills and attitudes:

• Skills: Investigation, Empathy, Synthesis, Interpretation, Evaluation, Application, Reflection, Analysis, Expression.
• Attitudes: Commitment, Fairness, Respect, Self-understanding, Enquiry, Tolerance.

This approach to teaching involves the use of key questions which pupils examine. They should be encouraged to devise their own questions and decide how best to go about answering them. Pupils should use a wide range of skills, for example: investigation, interpretation, analysis, evaluation and reflection. These should also be linked to level descriptors to ensure continuity.

Shared and Collective worship

The school does not promote an individual religion but does follow the guidance of the SMSC aspect of the 1944 Education Act.  Therefore, people of faith are invited into school to lead assemblies or class sessions in order to teach the children about how they lead their lives or share stories/experiences which help to form their faith. 

Impact
The children at Edleston Primary School enjoy learning lots about other religions 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. Our children develop an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community through our R.E. lessons. 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.