Religious Education

At Houghton Regis Primary School, Religious Education (RE) is delivered through the agreed Bedfordshire SACRE syllabus 2018-2023. The aim of Religious Education in our school is to contribute educationally to the development of pupils as individuals and members of society by fostering a reflective approach to life in the context of a growing understanding of the experiences, attitudes, beliefs and religious practices of humanity. Religious Education is taught within cross-curricular topic work themes and as a separate subject on the timetable. Schemes of work are devised for each year group in the school to ensure children are receiving a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils are given the opportunity to build their knowledge base through RE, and to understand how beliefs and practices connect, so that pupils are able to build effectively on prior learning as they progress through our school.

At Houghton Regis Primary we believe Religious Education will:

• Support pupils in their personal search for meaning
• Encourage pupils to question, to reflect, to wonder and to face the mystery of life
• Provide opportunities for all pupils to study Christianity and to appreciate it’s influence in the world and in our society
• Enable all pupils to learn about world faiths and encourage them to be sensitive to the range of beliefs and religious groups in the community
• Permeate other areas of the curriculum (e.g. dance, drama, music, art, and literature) fostering spiritual insights.

The threefold aim of RE:

We use the threefold aim for RE and the taught, throughout all years, reflect the following aims:

Make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs, so that they can:

• identify, describe, explain and analyse beliefs and concepts in the context of living religions, using appropriate vocabulary
• explain how and why these beliefs are understood in different ways, by individuals and within communities
• recognise how and why sources of authority (e.g. texts, teachings, traditions, leaders) are used, expressed and interpreted in different ways, developing skills of interpretation
• Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs, so that they can:
• examine and explain how and why people express their beliefs in diverse ways
• recognise and account for ways in which people put their beliefs into action in diverse ways, in their everyday lives, within their communities and in the wider world
• appreciate and appraise the significance of different ways of life and ways of expressing meaning
• Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied, so that they can:
• evaluate, reflect on and enquire into key concepts and questions studied, responding thoughtfully and creatively, giving good reasons for their responses
• challenge the ideas they study, and consider how these ideas might challenge their own thinking, articulating beliefs, values and commitments clearly in response
• discern possible connections between the ideas studied and their own ways of understanding the world, expressing their critical responses and personal reflections with increasing clarity and understanding

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from all or part of the RE curriculum. Please speak to your child’s class teacher to discuss this.

Houghton Regis Primary school Religious Education – Curriculum Overview