RE Policy
Our Vision
Shine from the inside out
John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
We choose Shine from the inside out as our vision because we want to demonstrate the love of Jesus in our world through our Christian values. We want all members of our school community to thrive and be a light in our world, so they make a positive difference today and in the future.
Introduction
RE is central to the purpose of Hartpury CE Primary school because, as a church school, we see that the Christian faith informs all aspects of our life together and commits us to a search for truth.
RE at Hartpury explores how individuals and communities make meaning and sense of their lives through the major religions of the world. It enables pupils to know about, understand and respond to the important and ultimate questions of life. RE is taught in such a way that it inspires pupils to explore, develop and affirm their own faith and values and have respect for the faith, beliefs and values of others. It is not the practice of this school to preach to or seek to convert children. Values education permeates the RE curriculum at Hartpury CE Primary School.
Aims
At this school, RE supports and strengthens the vision, ethos and values which are at the heart of what we aim to do in every aspect of school life. The importance placed on the development of the whole child spiritually, morally, socially, culturally and intellectually is reflected in the RE curriculum
Specifically, RE aims to enable pupils of all abilities and stages of development to:
- Develop knowledge and understanding of Christian beliefs and practices so that they understand the importance of the Bible, the role of the church and recognise that for Christians their faith provides a way of interpreting life and its meaning.
- Develop knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of some of the other principal religions in Britain.
- Understand how belief may impact on culture, relationships, values and lifestyle.
- Understand how belief can be expressed in a variety of ways including art, dance, music, ritual celebration and in different cultural settings.
- Develop spiritually, morally, culturally and socially by helping them to reflect upon personal feelings, responses and relationships.
- Explore ways in which religious values and teaching have an impact on actions and decisions for people of faith
- Be supported in their own search for meaning and purpose in life.
- Develop a sense of awe, wonder and mystery.
- Explore concepts of love, forgiveness and sacrifice.
- Develop skills of reflection, empathy, communication, analysis, investigation, interpretation, evaluation and synthesis.
- Develop attitudes of respect, sensitivity, open-mindedness and self-esteem.
Legal Framework
As a voluntary controlled CE school, the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for RE is our statutory document for the teaching of RE. Parents have a legal right to withdraw their children from religious education lessons, but as RE is central to the life and identity of Hartpury CE Primary School, we would ask parents to discuss with the head teacher any reasons they might have for doing this.
Teaching and Learning
- The scheme of work for RE will maintain a balance between the two attainment targets: Learning about Religions and Learning from Religions.
- There will be clear learning outcomes for all units of work, based on the appropriate expectations/levels as set out in the RE syllabus.
- The scheme of work will ensure that there is continuity and progression for pupils and opportunities for assessment in both attainment targets.
- A range of teaching and learning activities will ensure that pupils learn effectively and with interest.
- Pupil progress and attainment in RE will be tracked and recorded termly and the school will keep an up to date portfolio of evidence to support assessment data
- Progress in RE will form part of pupils’ annual report to parents.
- RE will be taught either as a discrete subject or as part of a cross curricular approach where appropriate.
- A range of visitors will be invited to support the teaching of RE, and where possible, there will be planned visits to places of worship.
- In this school the faiths taught in RE at KS1 are Christianity and Judaism and at KS2 Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.
- RE will be given at least 5% of curriculum time i.e. 1 hour per week in the
foundation stage and key stage 1 and 75 minutes per week in key stage 2.
Subject Leadership
- The RE subject leader will support and monitor the subject and will receive an adequate budget to do this.
- The RE subject leader will ensure that his/her subject knowledge and expertise are kept up to date by means of regular training.
- The RE subject leader will ensure that staff receive adequate training in the teaching and assessment of RE.
- The RE subject leader will regularly monitor the quality of RE teaching across the school.
- The RE subject leader will liaise with the governor who holds responsibility for RE and they will report regularly to the governing body on progress and attainment in RE.
- The RE subject leader and head teacher will ensure that the principles set out in the National Society’s Statement of Entitlement for RE are implemented.
Review
This policy will be reviewed regularly. Its effectiveness will be monitored by the RE Co-ordinator and will be based upon discussions with other members of staff, observation of children’s work and re-evaluation of teaching plans. The outcome of the review will influence the future school development plan.
