Religious Education

Intent

At Liberty Primary School, Religious Education plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, particularly PSHE and the teaching of British Values, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of our children.

Religious Education helps children acquire and develop a knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. It makes a significant contribution to pupils’ academic and personal development in promoting social cohesion and the virtues of respect and empathy, both of which are important in our diverse society and have links with our school Vision and Values.

The key aims for religious education are reflected in the two attainment targets.

 Attainment Target 1- Learning about region and belief

 Attainment target 2- Learning from religion and belief

Implementation

At Liberty Primary School, we teach Religious Education according to the aims of the Merton Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (SACRE) which has been written to suit the demography and diversity of the area. Pupils study the way religious and non-religious people make sense of their world and articulate their beliefs. They engage with the stories which are central to a religious worldview, noting the concepts in them and linking them across faiths.

Through careful and considered planning, we:

• Make the material relevant
• Involve pupils in the learning
• Introduce the real face of religion in the form of visits and visitors
• Plan dialogical RE by introducing discussion points through debates
• Use different resources such as art, videos, artefacts

Pupils explore deeper questions of meaning within religions for themselves and for those who follow the religion and consider what they can take from the teaching for their own lives and beliefs.

Impact

Religious Education assessment criteria have been developed in line with the expectations laid out in the Agreed Merton Syllabus, to enable teachers to assess the progress of the children, as they move through the key stages.

At Liberty Primary School, pupils are expected to know, understand, and apply skills related to the two attainment targets by the end of each key stage. Children's progress and attainment in RE is continually assessed through class discussions, children's written work in their books, group presentations, self and peer assessment and reported to parents and carers.

The assessment emphasises the value of learning RE and how important it is to know about how people live their lives and how they answer life's big questions.