RE
RE at Herne View
“Religion is like going out to dinner with friends. Everyone may order something different but everyone can still sit at the same table.” Dalai Lama
Why do we teach RE?
At Herne View, we believe that RE plays a dynamic role in a child’s education by provoking challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. We believe that engaging and stimulating RE helps to nurture informed and resilient responses to misunderstanding, stereotyping and division, and offers and place of security within which difficult or ‘risky’ questions can be tackled.
How do we teach RE?
In RE at Herne View, pupils discover, explore and consider different answers to challenging questions through learning about and from religions and other world views. They learn to question, debate, compare and critically assess different answers to ‘big’ human questions and to ‘agree or disagree respectfully.’
Teaching equips children with the knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and other world views, enabling them to, over time, develop and articulate their own personal beliefs, ideas, and identity, while respecting the right of others to differ. It develops in pupils, empathy and open-mindedness so that they can participate positively in society with its diverse understanding of life from religions and other world views.
In school, the curriculum is based on the Local Agreed Syllabus for RE in Somerset
The syllabus has three aims for pupils:
To develop successful learners who gain important skills, knowledge and understanding in RE.
To develop confident individuals with attitudes such as sensitivity, open-mindedness, self-esteem and appreciation and wonder.
To develop responsible citizens who embrace the diverse global community in which they live.
The syllabus requires schools to focus on specific core religions at each key stage: Christianity and Judaism from KS1, adding Islam and Hinduism at KS2. In addition, other (non-religious) world views are included as part of the curriculum at each key stage.
Key features of RE lessons at Herne View
Children are supported to think deeply about ‘big’ questions or ideas about life.
Children actively contribute to RE lessons through group and class discussion
Teachers create a ‘real life’ context for learning so that RE is purposeful, and this is enhanced through visits and visitors
Teachers carefully plan sequences of learning in order to build on children’s existing knowledge
Discussions about different religions and world views are held with sensitivity, confidence and understanding
Children are supported to talk about RE using appropriate vocabulary
