RE
Vision
As a Church of England school, we intend to develop our children into discerning, open-minded young learners, who can challenge prejudice and misunderstanding in a multi-racial and diverse world, whilst at the same time upholding British values. We intend to do this through engaging and thought-provoking teaching, which will allow them to become knowledgeable about culture, tradition, values and belief across the world. We intend to support them in their journey to adulthood, employment and life-long learning. We will accomplish this by delivering opportunities through rigorous and thoughtfully- planned teaching. This will encourage learners to discern opinions and hold balanced and well informed discussions.
Coverage
At Bemerton St John, it has been agreed that having taken into account the requirements and guidelines presented in the Agreed Syllabus, the following religions have been selected for study:
- Christianity
- Islam
- Judaism
- Hinduism
- Sikhism
- Humanism
These religions are studied and reflected upon through the Discovery RE and Understanding Christianity resources.
As Christianity is the predominant religion in the school's pupil population and in the community surrounding the school, the teaching and study of Christianity will comprise two thirds of the Religious Education curriculum at Bemerton St John.
There are no presumptions made as to the religious backgrounds and beliefs and values of the children and the staff. 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 stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children. Contributions from children will be collected in floor books and writing books. This is so that a wide variety and richness of evidence of learning can be captured.
Evidence
Our Religious Education curriculum is delivered through high quality resources and careful planning for progression. Every child is expected to make progress that is at least in line with their progress in other subjects. We hope that the impact will be that Bemerton St John children will be respectful of others’ beliefs and also confident in their own beliefs, values and ideas, in addition to the school’s values. This is so that they can participate fully and successfully in a diverse society. This is in line with the Church of England’s statement of entitlement, which says, ‘Religious Education in a church school should enable every child to flourish and live life in all its fullness (John 10,10)’. Children should be able to participate in discussion about religion in an open minded and well informed manner.