Our vision for Religious Education is to explore what people believe and what difference it 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 so we can live well together.
Statement of Intent
Our school seeks excellence in all that it does and aims to provide a broad, balanced, simulating and challenging curriculum for every child, of which RE plays a key part. All our children will have their education enhanced by a culture that values and promotes the part played by each individual in order to prepare them for the years ahead.
We want children to understand that the aim of religious education 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.
In addition, we want to prepare them for the diverse landscape of modern Britain: welcoming those of all faiths and none. Our vision for RE comes from our school vision:
Using our God given gifts to let our light shine
We want children to make sense, understand and make connections between religions and worldviews to enable them to talk about living well together.
Implementation
As a Church of England school, we seek to follow the Church of England’s Statement of entitlement for Religious Education. It says:
The aims of Religious Education in Church schools are:
- To enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living faith that influences the lives of people worldwide and as the religion that has most shaped British culture and heritage.
- To enable pupils to know and understand about other major world religions and world views, their impact on society, culture and the wider world, enabling pupils to express ideas and insights.
- To contribute to the development of pupils’ own spiritual/philosophical convictions, exploring and enriching their own beliefs and values.
We want to prepare our children for the diverse landscape of modern Britain; welcoming those of all faiths or none. As they progress through the school the children receive a rich diet of teaching, visitor experiences, music and worship to inspire and uplift them.
In RE we aim to give children a grounded understanding of Christianity and the major world faiths. As the children progress through the school they will encounter different religions and worldviews. In Key Stage One, children will encounter Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In Key Stage Two, children will revisit these religions, but also encounter Hinduism and non-religious views, such as Humanism. See our curriculum map for more details:
An important aim of RE is that children are encouraged to reflect on their learning and make their own decisions about what they believe. The aim of RE is not to make children into religious believers, but to understand that religion still influences and sustains many people in the world today, and to consider the wisdom of faith traditions, and reflect on what they might take from it. Our teaching is rooted in the Church of England, but we provide a space for all children to express their home religion, or for those of no faith.
Our curriculum follows the Cornwall Agreed Syllabus 2020 which has been agreed for Cornwall. In addition, we use the Understanding Christianity resource for our teaching of Christianity.
The Cornwall Agreed Syllabus 2020
The Cornwall Agreed Syllabus 2020 asserts the importance and value of religious education (RE) for all pupils, with on-going benefits for an open, articulate and understanding society. The following purpose statements underpin the syllabus, which is constructed to support pupils and teachers in fulfilling them:
- Religious education contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
- In RE pupils learn about religions and beliefs in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions.
- Pupils learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response and to agree or disagree respectfully.
- Teaching therefore should equip pupils with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and beliefs, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities.
- RE should develop in pupils an aptitude for dialogue so that they can participate positively in our society, with its diverse religions and beliefs.
- Pupils should gain and deploy the skills needed to understand, interpret and evaluate texts, sources of wisdom and authority and other evidence. They should learn to articulate clearly and coherently their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences while respecting the right of others to differ
The curriculum for RE aims to ensure that all pupils:
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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 studied, and allow the ideas studied to 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
Teaching and learning approach
The syllabus is based around a key question approach, where the questions open up the content to be studied. The syllabus gives key questions to help you to deliver the statutory Programmes of Study. Our children encounter core concepts in religions and beliefs in a coherent way, developing their understanding and their ability to handle questions of religion and belief.
The teaching and learning approach has three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs, underpinning the aims of RE.
Religious Education at Mawnan may be taught through Art, Drama, Storytelling and investigating artefacts. We are fortunate to have access to resources from the Cornwall library service. We encourage children to develop a knowledge of the rich tradition of religious art and music; responding and reflecting on what they may learn from it. Where possible, we try to bring in visitors and take children out to experience religion in the real world.
We believe that the Christian values underpinning our education will enable the children to become confident, reflective, spiritual and morally aware people who can play a role in shaping modern Britain.