RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (R.E.)

Intent

At Millfields, the aim of Religious Education is to inspire the children by:

  • Provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, and issues of right and wrong, commitment and belonging. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, and religious traditions that examine these questions, fostering personal reflection.

  • Encourage pupils to explore their own beliefs (religious or non-religious), in the light of what they learn, as they examine issues of religious belief and faith and how these impact on personal, institutional and social ethics; and to express their responses.

  • Enable pupils to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society.

  • Teach pupils to develop respect for others, including people with different faiths and beliefs, and help to challenge prejudice.

  • Prompt pupils to consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society. It encourages empathy, generosity and compassion.


Implementation

At Millfields we follow 'exploRE', the Essex agreed syllabus for Religious Education, where the following religions have been selected for study:

  • Christianity

  • Islam

  • Judaism

  • Hinduism

  • Buddhism

  • Sikhism

  • Humanism (KS2)


We value the religious background of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others freely. All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we value the links, which are, and can be made between home, school, and a faith community. We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils. We promote teaching in Religious Education that creates open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children.


At Millfields Primary School, RE is usually taught for one session each week across the school or lessons may be blocked when appropriate. Lessons in RE follow a learning sequence structured around key questions about a specific religion from the Essex SACRE Agreed Syllabus. R.E. is taught in a variety of ways including teacher led, independent research and class discussion. Each child has an RE book to record their learning showing creativity.


Impact

The children at Millfields Primary enjoy learning about other religions and why people choose or choose not to follow a religion. Through their learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. Religious Education provides for cross-curricular learning; children can explore links with PSHE, history, geography and science. Our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community.


Religious Education offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way. As such, RE is invaluable in an ever changing and shrinking world.



We measure the impact of our curriculum through how much of the following methods are achieved:

  • Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.

  • Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.

  • Interviewing the pupils about their learning.

  • Learning walks and reflective staff feedback.

  • Governor monitoring with our subject RE link governor.

  • Marking of written work in books.

Religious Education (R.E.) Leader - Mr Will Tetley

Deputy Religious Education (R.E.) Leader - Miss Ginny Sowman

Religious Education (R.E.) Link Governor - Ms Julie Barton