Quick Links

Religious Education

"Religious education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human."

Non Statutory guidance for RE 2010

Intent

At Eastbury Community Primary School, we believe that it is important for all our pupils to celebrate our diverse and rich community and learn from and about religion so they can understand and appreciate the world around them. The aim of Religious Education in our school is to support children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of the principal world religions represented in our local and National community.

We use The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s agreed syllabus for RE as our curriculum which has been designed to provoke questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self and issues of right and wrong. It is accessible to pupils and teachers of any religious stance or none, and encourages pupils to be confident and safely express views and opinions in a safe environment.

Our curriculum is inclusive, encouraging pupils to have confidence in their sense of identity as well as valuing and respecting diversity in others. The children will learn about how religious beliefs shape peoples’ lives and behaviour and make connections with their own values whilst respecting others including people of different faiths and beliefs and helps to challenge prejudice, enhancing their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

The curriculum focuses on broad ‘big questions’ and religion and morality is explored through these questions. We encourage our pupils to be inquisitive, developing inquiry based RE skills that allow them to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences and being more culturally aware of the world around them. The British value of ‘mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs’ is central to and promoted throughout the RE curriculum which also highly promotes empathy, tolerance and compassion.

Implementation

Our curriculum is strongly based on The Barking and Dagenham’s Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. It is a carefully planned and executed curriculum, rich with excellent learning opportunities for children and designed to meet the requirements and needs of pupils and communities in the local and neighbouring boroughs.

The six main world religions that have been selected for study in the curriculum include; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. The study of the religions are introduced in KS1 and lower KS2 and some are revisited, building on prior learning and allowing opportunities to develop RE knowledge and skills further.

Our RE curriculum is rich with learning opportunities and encourages a creative approach to teaching and learning. We use a broad range of books and resources including live artefacts to give the children real life experiences and bring the learning to life.

The curriculum encourages a visit to a place of worship every year and we are very lucky that we have so many local places of worship in our community in Barking. By the time the children have reached the end of their Primary education, they would have had the opportunity to visit a Church, Mosque, Synagogue, Temple, Gurdwara, and Buddhist Temple.

All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we acknowledge, value and celebrate the religious backgrounds and beliefs and values of the children, staff and all members of the school community. This is reflected in our exciting special celebration days which include the annual Christmas and Easter concerts, The Christmas Nativity, Ramadan and Eid fair and Diwali day.

Impact

The children at Eastbury Community school thoroughly enjoy their RE lessons. They are fully engaged and interactive in lessons and develop creativity, confidence and an inquisitive mind.

Through their RE learning, the children develop a strong sense of self, an awareness of the world around them and learn to be mindful, respectful and tolerant of the beliefs of others. We wish for the children to feel confident and valued as individuals and understand that difference is a positive, not a negative. RE is a key subject that teaches our pupils about the fundamental British values of individual liberty, democracy, the rule of law and mutual respect and tolerance.

Religious Education at Eastbury is an opportunity to build on pupils’ character, virtues and conduct so that they grow into responsible, respectful and compassionate global citizens.

How is the curriculum sequenced?

The curriculum is sequenced to cover the six main world religions from KS1 through to KS2. Religious stories, aspects and celebrations from Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism are introduced to children in KS1 and are revisited in KS2 with opportunities to further develop and deepen their knowledge and understanding. Pupils in Upper KS2 learn about moral concepts such as animal rights and the approach to learning in RE becomes more about comparing and contrasting and self reflection.

Please see the curriculum overview for a clear breakdown of the sequence of RE lessons.

How are you building on prior knowledge and skills?

The RE curriculum has been carefully and thoroughly planned to ensure that skills and knowledge is built on throughout the children’s time at school. Religions are introduced early in KS1 and revisited and built on as they progress through KS2 with opportunities to reflect on each religion and moral concepts in greater depth.

RE is covered in the Early Years Curriculum under ‘Understanding of the world- people and places’ and children in Reception and Nursery explore religion through stories and celebrations.

Please see the medium term plans for an overview of the coverage of RE lessons.

How are we implementing the recovery curriculum?

the RE curriculum was taught through remote learning during the pandemic. We realise as a school that there may be gaps in children's learning due to home learning and always revisit prior learning. Our Medium term plans are organised termly to ensure we are considering the children as a cohort and what is most appropriate for them.

From the summer term, we aim to send home and begin our units with Knowledge organisers which will support the children in revising prior learning and creating more home/school links.