Religious Education
Aims of our Religious Education Programme
At Gillingstool Primary School it is our intention that the curriculum for Religious Education will be meaningful and relevant to children within our community.
Our Religious education curriculum is a key player in engendering knowledge and understanding which can lead to more than tolerance; it will engender true inclusivity and respect for others and their beliefs.
Children will develop a deepening understanding of Christianity, of the other world religions and the Humanist perspective and value systems found in Britain. Our high-quality Religious Education should develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of religious traditions and to appreciate the cultural differences in Britain today.
Children will have the opportunity to develop mindfulness, cultivating a sense of awareness in a non-judgemental way ion the present moment. It is our intention to use this approach to build children’s self-awareness and skills of reflection, supporting both RE learning and children personal and spiritual development.
What RE looks like at Gillingstool
PE is implemented through the Discovery RE scheme of work. This is an enquiry-based approach to teaching and learning in Religious Education.
Christianity is taught every year, with Christmas and Easter given new treatment with each revisit, developing learning in a progressive way. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism are also covered and Humanist perspectives are added when appropriate in some enquiries.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) opportunities are mapped throughout the programme as is each enquiry's contribution to developing British Values.
RE Outcomes at Gillingstool
The outcome of our Religious Education curriculum will be that children will develop respect for other peoples’ views and celebrate the diversity in society. They will foster attitudes such as curiosity, open-mindedness, self-understanding, respect, wonder and appreciation. Pupils’ will have increased awareness of spiritual and moral issues in their life experiences.
By year 6, children will have developed their enquiry, investigative and research skills to a level which will enable them to make reasoned judgments about religious issues. Pupils will have the subject knowledge and understanding to develop a personal response to the fundamental questions of life.
The impact of our RE curriculum will be measured through observations during lessons and pupil books. From September 2021 this will supplemented by the use of RE floorbooks and the use of Discovery RE entry and exit quizzes.