Religious Education

Intent

Our shared Southwark values are at the heart of everything we do. These core values will help guide and influence our children’s Beliefs, Behaviours and sense of Belonging. Religious Education at Southwark covers the six main world faiths of: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Children will have the opportunity to discuss challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, and to express and share beliefs about God. As children progress through the school, they will build on prior knowledge and deepen their understanding of important celebrations and festivals within each world faith to enable them to understand and celebrate people’s differences as well as share and discover their similarities. Children will be taught the knowledge needed to appreciate and celebrate diversity, show respect and work cohesively together as one community. All children will have the opportunity to learn through first-hand experiences, including visits to places of worship, and provide them with memories that will shape their lives today and their future selves.  Children are empowered with the tools to question in a secure, supportive and positive environment to ensure they understand the world in which they live and enable them to make a positive contribution in their own community. Children feel confident to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about themselves and others.  

RE Progression at Southwark

At Southwark, our RE curriculum is in line with expectations set out in the 2014 National Primary Curriculum.  Our programme of study is based around Cornerstones' 'Love to Celebrate' projects.  The projects cover six major world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. They are sequenced so that children’s knowledge of each religion builds over time. Central to each project is a significant religious festival or celebration. Each project gives children the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and understanding of the significant people, teachings, beliefs and practices of each religion.  To help children to learn and use the correct vocabulary, the projects introduce keywords and offer resources with a focus on language and vocabulary.  It is planned and sequenced to develop deep, lasting learning and builds upon prior knowledge, which our children can use today, tomorrow and for the rest of their lives.

When learning about each world faith, children will discover the beliefs held by followers of each religion (values that guide daily lives), the behaviours (rituals and practices) as well as the sense of belonging which comes with being part of a shared community.

Children in the EYFS begin to explore religions and world views through special books, times, places and objects.  They listen to and talk about stories.  As children progress into Key Stage 1, they deepen their knowledge and understanding of festivals in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  As children move into Key Stage 2, they learn about all world faiths including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Buddhism.  

RE is taught in block units within a half term term to allow suitable links to be made to specific religious festivals taking place. Children gain a deeper understanding of the religion studied through the use of high quality resources/artefacts.

Assemblies linked to festivals in all world faiths take place across the whole school and are mapped out to link with festivals taking place throughout the year.

Visits to places of worship, and visitors representing different religions provide a variety of first-hand experiences for our children, to spark their interest and relate new learning to their own experience.

As children progress through the school, they will build on prior knowledge and deepen their understanding of important celebrations and festivals within each world faith to enable them to understand and celebrate people’s differences as well as share and discover their similarities.