Intent

At Rockbeare C of E Primary, we follow the Understanding Christianity and Devon and Torbay Agreed Syllabus which asserts the importance and value of RE for all pupils. As a Church of England school, the principles of Christian education remain at our core. Our key Christian values are on a two-year rolling programme with a different focus value each half term. These are woven into and throughout our curriculum and strong links are made with our school Vision and Ethos of ‘Empowering every individual as they learn and grow through God’s love.’ Our RE curriculum is designed to help children to understand and engage with Christianity and to also understand and respect those of all faiths or none. The principal aim of RE is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living. RE contributes to children’s education at Rockbeare C of E Primary by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs in God, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. Children will learn about religions and beliefs in local, national and global behaviour, develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and enhance our spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Implementation

The principal aim of RE is embedded throughout our planning to ensure that all teaching and learning contributes to enabling pupils to achieve this aim. The Understanding Christianity and Devon and Torbay Agreed Syllabus requires that all pupils develop understanding of Christianity in each key stage. In addition, across the age range, pupils will develop understanding of the principal religions represented in the UK; Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Judaism. The syllabus helps with deepening pupils’ knowledge about religions, and develops their ‘religious literacy’. It does this by studying one religion at a time (‘systematic’ units), and then including ‘thematic’ units, which build on learning by comparing the religions, beliefs and practices studied. At Rockbeare, our children will discover, explore and answer different questions about religion and learn how to develop and express their insights in response and to agree or disagree respectfully.

Impact

Our children at Rockbeare enjoy learning 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. Through RE our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life and worship, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community. By the time children leave Rockbeare C of E Primary, we want our children to be able to articulate clearly and coherently their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences while respecting the right of others to differ. This will enable our children to develop their ideas, values and identities so they can participate positively, as informed, articulate citizens, in our society with its diverse religions and beliefs in an ever-changing society.