Birchen Coppice Primary Academy

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND COLLECTIVE WORSHIP

Intent

At Birchen Coppice Academy we believe that Religious Education has a significant role in the development of children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It promotes respect and open-mindedness towards others with different faiths and beliefs also encouraging the children to develop their sense of identity and belonging through self-awareness and reflection.

Religious Education contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.

The principle aim of Religious Education is to engage children in an enquiry approach where they can develop an understanding and appreciation for the expression of beliefs, cultural practices and influence of principle religions and worldviews in the local, national and wider global community.

Implementation

Our curriculum follows the Sandwell Agreed Syllabus Sandwell SACRE for Religious Education which has additional units that have been developed in conjunction with RE today.

Teachers aim to deliver high-quality lessons that provide opportunities to explore, make and respond to the meanings of those experiences in relation to the beliefs and experiences of others as well as to one’s own experiences.

RE teaching will encourage children to develop their ‘substantive’ knowledge, use their ‘disciplinary’ knowledge and include their ‘personal’ knowledge to deepen their understanding of a range of religions and beliefs, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities.

Lessons use the following experiences and enrichment opportunities to ensure learning is immersive and purposeful; 

• handling artefacts
• exploring sacred texts
• using imaginative play or drama to express feelings and ideas
• meeting visitors from local religious communities
• making visits to religious places of worship where possible, and where not, making use of videos and the internet
• taking part in whole school events- (Harvest Festival, school performances)
• participating in moments of quiet reflection
• using ICT to further explore religion and belief globally
• comparing religions and worldviews through discussion
• debating and communicating religious belief, worldviews and philosophical ideas and answering and asking ultimate questions posed by these

In accordance with the Education Act 1944, Religious Education is a compulsory subject. Any parent has the right to ask for his/her child to be excused from R.E. or worship but we would ask the parent to examine the curriculum and discuss the full implications of withdrawal.

Impact

In RE children learn about religions and beliefs in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to questions. They learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response, and to agree or disagree respectfully.

Through their R.E. learning, the children are able

• to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world
• develop an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life
• extend their knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs
• develop a religious vocabulary and interpret religious symbolism in a variety of forms
• reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular world-views
• explore ultimate questions of beliefs and values in relation to a range of contemporary issues in an ever-changing society

As such, R.E. is invaluable in an ever changing and shrinking world.