At Crudgington Primary, we believe that it is important for all our pupils to learn from and about religion so that they can understand the world around them. The aim of Religious Education in our academy is to help children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain; to appreciate the way that religious beliefs shape life and behaviour, develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Religious Education is taught throughout the academy in such a way as to reflect the overall aims, values, and philosophy of the academy through topics such as in everyday life.
It plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, particularly PSHE, in promoting social awareness and understanding in our pupils. We encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. We include and promote British values, ensuring that children are aware of their rights and responsibilities as UK citizens.
Our curriculum encourages creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, discussion and independence.
At Crudgington, we use the Discovery R.E. for Religious Education as a basis for our curriculum, a comprehensive, enquiry-based scheme.
We have considered the requirements and guidelines presented in the scheme and the specific regions within our school and therefore have selected the following religions to study:
- Christianity (all year groups)
- Islam (Year 2 and 6)
- Judaism (Year 1)
- Hinduism (Year 3)
- Buddhism (Year 4)
- Sikhism (Year 5)
- In the Early Years Foundation Stage the learning outcomes are referenced to Christianity and as appropriate to a range of other beliefs and cultures
The 2013 Ofsted report on RE, “Religious Education: realising the potential”, suggests
“Using the approach of a philosophical enquiry can deepen and extend pupils’ investigation into religion”.
“In the most effective RE teaching, enquiry is based at the heart of the learning”.
Discovery RE promotes this enquiry approach because it had become evident from teachers and children’s work across hundreds of schools in England, that this motivates in-depth exploration of RE content/subject knowledge in order to answer the big enquiry question. Knowledge is no longer an end in itself; it is now important as the means with which to explore potential answers to the big questions posed in each Discovery RE enquiry.
