Religious Education (RE) is a subject which develops our understanding of the world’s religions.

Leader: Rachel Farage

Intent

At Frimley we are focused on developing the whole child and through our curriculum and school values (love, honesty and forgiveness) we encourage children to be worldly citizens.  Our RE curriculum supports this.

Through Religious Education, we aim to provide the children with an opportunity to explore issues which are happening in the wider world. We are a Church of England school with Christian values and an open minded approach to Religious Education. The world is a much smaller place today and we are preparing our children to go into the world and form relationships with people from a huge variety of backgrounds. We encourage children to question and explore philosophical issues.  We want our children to be able to make reasoned, informed and creative responses to religious and moral issues.

Understanding traditions, beliefs and different ways of expressing spirituality is a way of giving our children choices and the chance to develop their own ideas, beliefs and values. Learning about religion and culture will help our children to be tolerant and respectful.

                 

Implementation

Through Religious Education at Frimley, the children extend their knowledge of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and are introduced to aspects of Hinduism, Sikhism, Humanism and Buddhism, recognising the impact of religion and belief locally, nationally and globally. We also acknowledge that Religious Education encompasses some difficult concepts that are not easily explained and consider the non-religious perspective.   As we are a Church of England School we follow the Surrey Agreed Syllabus for RE, which reflects the needs of Surrey.

Through the curriculum, children are engaged in various activities in order to develop their understanding of religion and spirituality, in order to learn about and from religions.  RE is based around three ‘Golden Threads’ which run through every lesson, the threads are centred around God, identity and community. At Frimley, we try to make the Religious Education lessons exciting and creative through a variety of different activities including art, conscience alley, freeze frames, storyboards etc.

We welcome chances to give children first hand experiences to build community links and explore all faiths through making links with local Synagogues, Mosques and Temples or inviting visitors of different faiths to our school. We are supported by two local Parish Churches and receive guidance on our Religious Education curriculum from the Guildford Diocese. All children from the school are involved in Harvest, Christmas, Easter and end of year services at, or with input from, one of the local churches and Year 6 pupils attend the leavers’ service at Guildford Cathedral (where possible).

We have artefact boxes and the children can handle religious objects related to the faith they are studying. Our lessons are active, creative and engaging with opportunities for both quiet reflection and exciting debate.

RE lessons are taught by the class teacher weekly. RE is taught by the class teacher in order for discussions to be more open and for children to have the confidence to share their views, insights and beliefs.

 

                                            

Impact

In classrooms, you will see and hear:

• A buzz of learning
• Crucial learning being discussed and applied
• Discussions and debates based on ‘big questions’
• Awe and wonder as children discover and analyse their beliefs/ideas and about the beliefs of others
• Hands on resources supporting the learning of RE
• Memorable experiences and learning
• Children expressing their beliefs and the beliefs of others in a range of practical and creative ways

Children leave Frimley:

• With an understanding of Christianity; key beliefs, teachings and Bible stories.
• With an understanding of the religions and beliefs within the local community and world wide
• With thinking skills to be able to analyse their own beliefs and the beliefs of others
• Having tools to support their spiritual development
• With tolerance and respect towards people who have different cultures and beliefs
• With an ability to express what they believe and their insights