Religious Education

At New Cangle, we believe that Religious Education provides an opportunity to celebrate and foster awareness of the differences within our school and the wider world. It is a subject that celebrates diversity and challenges stereotypes. RE is taught in accordance with the aims of the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus. Particularly relevant to our school is the aim, which states: ‘Religious Education should help pupils to develop a positive attitude towards other people, respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own, and towards living in a society of many religions and beliefs.’

The Scheme of Work

New Cangle’s RE curriculum/syllabus is compliant with ‘Where do I stand?’ September 2023, the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2023. We have implemented the Emmanuel Project: A Scheme of Work for Primary RE, which we use to deliver weekly lessons in all year groups and is a fully comprehensive detailed lesson planning resource for Religious Education.

The programme identifies areas and skills taught for each unit. Follows an Enquiry Cycle model within each unit (Engage / Enquire / Explore / Evaluate / Express). All the units expand the EXPLORE section into three areas (scriptural text or narrative / community practice / daily living) to ensure a balanced approach to religious material, rather than an approach that focuses solely on religious festivals or sacred stories.

It focuses on key beliefs / concepts of six different faiths and a non-religious worldview, as the driver to get to the heart of faith and link together stories, practices, festivals and ways of life. Engaging starters link children into the key beliefs at the start of the unit. A set of symbols are used in KS2 to represent the key beliefs and acts as a practical learning aid.

Aims

With the guidance from the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus (2023) our aims are to:

• acknowledge the breadth and diversity of worldviews, religious and non-religious, that pupils will encounter, and the ways these are lived out.
• establish an entitlement to excellent religious education for all pupils, irrespective of type of school attended, social background, ability, gender, culture, religion or personal worldview.
• promote continuity and coherence in RE in different phases of education by setting out a curriculum linked throughout by three disciplines: theology, human and social science, and philosophy.
• increase professional, parental and public understanding of RE as a subject that underpins British values, enables informed debate on issues of belief in a diverse society, and promotes the possibility of amicable disagreement.

The three disciplines are present in each key stage but with the emphasis shifting slightly, so that human and social science may be more obvious in the Early Years and Key Stage1, and theology in Key Stage 2.

Theology in RE involves enquiry into:

• Key beliefs/concepts of a religion or worldview, both distinctive and shared
• Sources of authority for religious beliefs e.g. sacred texts, religious leaders, divine revelation
• Particular beliefs about God, humanity, life, and the nature of an after-life
• Differences in interpretation of key beliefs and changes in religious belief across time/culture

Human and Social Science in RE involves exploration of:

• Different customs, celebrations and rituals based on religious and secular beliefs
• The influence of sacred texts and religious leaders on communities
• Diverse interpretations, and at different times
• Moral, ethical and practical lifestyle choices based on secular or religious worldviews

Philosophy in RE involves engagement with:

• Ultimate questions of truth, morality, purpose and meaning in life
• Questions arising from religious and secular stand points, texts or customs
• Conflicting answers offered by religious and non-religious groups and individuals
• Changes in questions/answers overtime and across societies

More details of our RE curriculum can be found in the following documents: Religious Education Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement and The Emmanuel Project Overview

Legal Requirements

RE is taught in accordance with the aims of the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus. In accordance with the law, we provide religious education for all pupils registered at the school. Parents have the right to withdraw their pupils from religious education. Parents who choose to withdraw their children from Religious education lessons are required to state this in writing annually to the Head teacher.

We believe that it is the responsibility of the parents, who have chosen to withdraw their children from school RE, to provide acceptable alternative religious education work for their children to do during RE lessons. We expect that this work will be discussed with the class teacher so that these children can be fully included, and their alternative work linked to what the rest of the class is learning.

Mrs Laurie leads RE; she is passionate about children’s understanding of different religions, cultures and viewpoints.