Noak Bridge Religious Education
RE Lead: Mrs L Morum
At Noak Bridge Primary School we are following the Essex Agreed Syllabus – A Religious Education for the Future. It aims to develop an understanding of religion and worldviews for life in a changing world.
The Purpose of RE
We aim to provide high quality Religious Education to support pupils’ religious literacy. In the context of this syllabus, being religiously literate means that pupils will hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and worldviews. They will be able to make sense of religion and worldviews around them and begin to understand the complex world in which they live.
Our Aims
- To know about and understand a range of religious and non-religious worldviews by learning to see these through theological, philosophical and human/social science lenses.
- To express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religious and non-religious worldviews through a multi-disciplinary approach.
- To gain and deploy skills rooted in theology, philosophy and human/social sciences engaging critically with religious and non-religious worldviews.
In this syllabus we assert that RE is rooted in three key disciplines or disciplinary fields. These are theology, philosophy and the human/social sciences. They are re-contextualised for the school context in the following ways:
RE is taught in five Enquiries or questions in half termly blocks over the year in Key Stage 1 and 2. EYFS have three Enquiries or questions over the year. These Enquiries can be found on the RE Curriculum Map. (see below)
We intend for the Religious Education aspect of our school curriculum to inspire, challenge and encourage pupils by providing them with knowledge and skills. Pupils will develop skills to answer challenging questions, explore a variety of religious beliefs, traditions and values whilst enabling themselves to understand the traditions and beliefs which are followed in our multi-cultural community. We want pupils to understand the importance of beliefs, values and traditions of individuals whilst combating prejudices in life, preparing them for adult life, employment and life-long understanding.
We aim to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all pupils and will maximise the learning outcomes for every pupil, in order for them to know more, comprehend more and remember more. With this in mind, pupils will become independent and responsible members of a multi-cultural society. Pupils will benefit from exploring questions about life, to understand what people believe and how this impacts the way they live, enabling pupils to make sense of religions. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about and from religions and worldviews in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. They will be equipped with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities. Our children are encouraged to develop an aptitude for dialogue so that they can participate positively in our society.
Right to withdraw from Religious Education (RE)
Parents / carers have a right to withdraw their child, wholly or partly, from RE. This includes our RE curriculum, attendance at religious worship in school and any trip that is part of the RE curriculum.
If parents / carers wish to withdraw their children from RE they are given the opportunity to discuss this if they wish, where they will be made aware of what is covered in our RE curriculum and it's aims.
It should be made clear within the written request from parents / carers whether the withdrawal is from the whole RE curriculum or specific parts of it.
No reasons need be given.
Important - limitations to withdraw
- If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching. A pupil may be required to work in another area of the school.
- Whilst parents or carers have a right to withdraw children from RE, they should note that children may also encounter religions and beliefs and wider aspects of faith in other areas of the curriculum from which there is no right of withdrawal.
- On occasion, spontaneous questions about religious matters are raised by pupils or issues related to religion arise in other curriculum subjects such as history or PSHE, for example, schools promote community cohesion and help pupils to understand ideas about identity and diversity, feelings and emotions within both religious and non-religious contexts.
Managing the Right of Withdrawal
If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra cost.
Where a request for withdrawal is made, the school must comply and excuse the pupil until the request is rescinded. Though not legally required, it is good practice for a head teacher to invite parents to discuss their written request.