Religious Education at Shakespeare Infant School

Intent

In Religious Education, we study the diversity of the world and different religious beliefs and practices.

We follow the Hampshire Agreed syllabus and Living Difference IV, which encapsulates the key religions represented in the UK.

It is our intent for the Religious Education element of our school curriculum to engage, inspire, challenge and encourage pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore different religious beliefs, values and traditions and develop a more rigorous understanding of the numerous religious traditions, beliefs and practices that are followed in our    multi-cultural society. We want them to know how religious education enables pupils to combat prejudice, preparing them for life-long learning.

Through RE we aim to enable children to acquire an understanding, appreciation and respect for the many different beliefs that people hold, with a specific focus on Christian and Sikh traditions.

We will help children to gain an awareness of their own feelings and develop an understanding of the needs and feelings of others.

Children make use of different resources to develop understanding and make R.E. meaningful to them.

Much of our RE teaching is carried out through exploring the children’s ideas and emphasis is given to discussion and positive, quality talk. 

Our religious education learning provides a rich and wide range of experiences which give children opportunities to develop concepts and skills that will help them to make sense of their own experiences and beliefs, and to understand the beliefs and practices of members of faith communities through open, fair minded enquiry.

Religious instruction is not part of the educational process and therefore has no place in religious education. Religious education is an educational subject in its own right, taught within an educational framework.

We believe that RE makes a unique contribution to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils and supports wider community cohesion and we are proud to have close links with St Peter's Church in Boyatt Wood.

Implementation 

At Shakespeare Infant school we deliver the RE curriculum by following the agreed syllabus for Hampshire- The Living Difference IV. Our planning and our schemes of work reflect this for each Key Stage. The children learn through communicating, applying, enquiring, contextualizing and evaluating their thoughts in group work and class discussions.

RE is taught in discrete blocked lessons at the end of each half term. These are separate to our topic work, but allows for links to be made with specific festivals and times of the year. This allows the children to become fully immersed in RE, which is taught through concepts and allows time for the children to deepen their understanding.

Each unit of work identifies prior learning, allowing for progression throughout the school, with a focus on Christian and Sikh traditions.

We value the religious background of all members of the school and wider community and encourage children to share their own experiences freely with others.  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 have a close link with St Peter’s Church Boyatt Wood.

Our RE work is underpinned by our spiritual learning value, represented by Betsy Butterfly. This encourages children to value themselves and celebrate who they are, respect the values and beliefs of others, ask thoughtful questions and appreciate the awe and wonder of the world around them.

RE makes a unique contribution to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils and has close links to PSHE and the ideas shared in ‘We Care time’ and British Values implemented within the school as a whole.

RE at Shakespeare Infant School

Please click on the link for further information about the RE syllabus we follow. 

https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/hias/curriculum-support/living-difference-re-syllabus