Religious Education

RE CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

RE PROGRESSION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Fairlawn is a culturally diverse school representing different cultures, faith groups and nationalities. We believe that Religious Education provides an opportunity to celebrate and foster awareness of these differences within our school and the wider world.

The RE curriculum at Fairlawn Primary School is based on the agreed Lewisham Syllabus for Religious Education published in 2018 which has been mapped out by the school.

Intent

At Fairlawn, we believe that it is important for all pupils to learn from and about religion, so that they can understand the world around them. RE plays an important role alongside other curriculum areas, in promoting a spiritual and social awareness that is vital in enabling children to develop into rounded individuals. The aim of RE at Fairlawn is for children to develop their knowledge of the principal religions in Great Britain and to be able to make informed, reasoned judgements about their own lives.

Through RE lessons, children foster an appreciation of the beliefs of others, and learn to respect and understand them. Pupils also learn to think about the big questions in life and analyse their own beliefs and thinking.

Implementation

At Fairlawn School, in addition to assemblies and whole school celebrations around festivals of faith and culture, RE is taught on a dedicated RE day for Year 1 every half term, and on a weekly basis for Years 2-6 to ensure that children become fully immersed in their learning.

In Nursery and Reception, children learn through role-play, storytelling and taking part in their own celebrations. They look at similarities and differences between their own celebrations and those of other religions and share these with one another.   Children and their parents share their celebrations in the form of stories, home videos, music and dance. 

In Key Stage 1, children learn about Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, as well as topics such as Weddings, Belonging, Right and Wrong and the Natural World.

In Key Stage 2, children continue to build on the knowledge acquired from the religions learnt in Key Stage 1, as well as being introduced to; Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism. They also learn about Peace and the Journey of Death within different religions. The new curriculum has also introduced Understanding Faith and Belief in Lewisham that is taught in Year 6.

Impact

The RE curriculum will enable our pupils to make effective decisions, make links across areas of learning, and to be respectful of the views of others, as well as developing their understanding of some of the key religions and world views. Assessment of RE is ongoing and half termly reviews of pupils’ learning enable teachers to plan RE days that provide opportunities for children to build on their prior knowledge, whilst also enabling them to reflect on their own beliefs and ideas.

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from religious assemblies. Any parent wishing to exercise this right must make a request in writing to the headteacher.