Religious Education Policy

Religious Education Policy

Policy Originator: R. Farage

Governor Responsible: P. Parker

Review Period: Annual

Next Review Date: Summer 2017

Rationale

Religious Education (RE) is concerned with beliefs, values and attitudes. It builds upon pupil's innate curiosity in life and is an essential part of children's experience in school.

The main focus of Religious Education, at Frimley Church of England School, is Christianity as this is appropriate to the ethos of the school and is the requirement of the Surrey Agreed Syllabus. Religious beliefs are gaining increasingly prominent global exposure through media coverage. Therefore, RE teaching also aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the other Abrahamic faiths (Islam and Judaism), the Dharmic faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism) in addition to acknowledging Humanist and Atheist viewpoints. Through learning about other faiths we believe that children may acquire understanding and mutual respect as well as developing their own spiritual values.

Aims of RE

At Frimley Church of England School our aims are to enable pupils to:

• Appreciate the unique nature of religion and the important contribution of religious and spiritual insights and values to the individual’s search for meaning in their life

• Develop knowledge and understanding of the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam and Judaism), the Dharmic faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism) in addition to acknowledging Humanist and Atheist viewpoints
• Develop interest in and enthusiasm for the study of religion and enhance their own spiritual, moral, social and cultural education

The Legal Requirement

As part of the diocese of Guildford, we are required, by law, to use the learning objectives from the Locally Agreed Syllabus.

Our school curriculum for RE meets the requirements of the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA). The ERA stipulates that RE is compulsory for all children although parents retain the right to withdraw their child from RE classes and collective worship if they desire. However, this may only be done following written notice to the school governors.

The ERA also allows teachers to refuse to teach RE, but only after they have given due notice of their intention to the school governors. The RE curriculum forms an important part of our school’s citizenship and spiritual, moral, social and cultural teaching.

Assessment and Record Keeping

Assessment of children’s work in religious education is carried out by teachers in the course of their teaching and used to guide the progress of pupils. Each unit of work includes examples of possible methods of assessment for teachers to use in making judgements. These address the two principle Attainment Targets: AT1 (Learning about Religions) and AT2 Learning from religion) (see appendix 1). Reporting to parents may be undertaken during termly parent interviews and a written record is part of the formal yearly report.

The R.E. Leader monitors R.E. termly, with the R.E. link governors. The monitoring includes: learning walks, observations, book, levels and planning scrutiny.

Curriculum Overview (see appendix 2)

RE is taught throughout the school following the guidance and structure provided by the Locally Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in Surrey. Each unit includes key questions, learning objectives, outcomes and experiences. Each unit equally reflects and addresses the aforementioned ATs.

• Compulsory units include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism in order to create an appropriate balance of faiths studied;
• Other areas from the bank of Additional Study and Optional Christianity Units have been allocated to give balance and breadth of study;
• The recommended time allocation for RE over the whole of Key Stage 2 is 180 hours in total (approximately 1¼ hours per week). There is a degree of flexibility within the suggested time allocations for each unit.

Resources

Resources for the teaching of RE include study boxes (documents, photographs, posters and artefacts), books and multimedia resources (available through the curriculum server) for use on the Interactive White boards. Sets of Bibles are also available. In each classroom there is a designated ‘Reflection space’ with prompts and a box for pupil’s personal contributions.

Date: Summer 2016

Appendix 1

Although Religious Education is not subject to nationally prescribed attainment targets and assessment arrangements, non-statutory guidance encourages Agreed Syllabus Conferences to develop these locally.

The two attainment targets for RE are:

AT1: Learning about religions: knowledge and understanding

AT1is concerned with developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the beliefs, teachings and practices of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. This area is often described as explicit RE because it deals directly with religious beliefs.

Examples of AT1 opportunities:

• Encountering the key objects, people, places and activities associated with the religions studied e.g. visits to St Peter's Church Frimley, St Andrew's Church Frimley Green, the Hindu temple in Neasden and Guildford Cathedral;
• Studying the lives of people who are held by members of their faith to be examples to others, looking particularly at how these people lived out the beliefs and values of their faith;
• Extending their awareness that certain features, e.g. festivals, worship, a sense of community, are shared by more than one religion, although expressed differently;
• Considering the meaning of symbols, stories and symbolic language for members of faith communities;
• Encountering the key beliefs of the religions studied and considering the impact of religious beliefs on individuals and their local community.

AT2: Learning from religion: explore, reflect on and respond to religious beliefs, values and experiences

AT2is concerned with the response of the individual pupil to what they are learning in RE. This Attainment Target values both what the pupils bring with them to RE, and what they learn from it. It encourages reflection and the sharing of their own ideas and concerns. This area is often called implicit RE because it explores a range of common human experiences such as feelings of joy, fear, hope, loneliness, compassion and anger, regardless of the personal beliefs of that individual. It enables pupils to recognise the fundamental questions about life’s meaning and purpose and to explore the variety of responses given to those questions by religions and philosophies throughout the ages.

Examples of AT2:

• Considering the value of certain religious practices in their own lives, e.g. prayer, periods of reflection, celebrations;

• Talking about stories which focus on values, relationships or religious teachings, and considering the relevance of this to their own lives;
• Exploring questions of the meaning and mystery of life;
• Developing an understanding of what it means to belong to a community;
• Discussing the differences between fairness and unfairness, right and wrong, and the nature of individual responsibility;

Appendix 2

Frimley Curriculum

R.E. overview 2015-16