Religious Education
Curriculum Overview
Intent
At Banstead Infant School, RE plays 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 and encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging through self-awareness and reflection. At Banstead Infant School, the principle aim of teaching RE is to engage pupils 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.
For our children, RE:
- provokes challenging questions
- encourages them to explore their own beliefs
- enables them to build their sense of identity and belonging
- teaches them to develop respect for others including people with different faiths and beliefs
- prompts them to consider their responsibilities to themselves and others
Implementation
At Banstead Infant School, RE is taught on a bi-weekly basis and through whole school assemblies. We follow SACRE, the Surrey Agreed Syllabus. Children learn about religion and learn from religion. Pupils learn through discussing, listening, exploring, viewing and handling artefacts. Through listening to stories from different faiths or explanation of practices, children can increase their knowledge of key elements of religion. Handling real faith artefacts teaches respect for things that are important to people of faith communities. Acting and role play bring stories to life and discussion enables children to extend their understanding, question different aspects and give their own views and opinions on different topics. In foundation stage, children will cover 6 key questions, connected to the rest of the EYFS curriculum that will build on the children’s understanding of the concepts of Specialness, Celebration and Belonging, In Year 1 and Year 2, children will develop their knowledge of Christianity and aspects of Judaism and Islam. Assemblies coincide with key dates and religious festivals to provide opportunities to celebrate festivals and religions with greater consistency and contextual relevance. At Banstead Infant School, learning is assessed through observation, questioning, discussion, and photos where possible.
Impact
Our RE curriculum is carefully planned to ensure that children build upon the knowledge they have. The range of experiences and opportunities to explore faith that we offer contributes to our pupils leaving Banstead Infant School with a balanced, knowledgeable, and open-minded view of the world. They respond to others by demonstrating tolerance and empathy and feel empowered that they can work together to break down stereotypes and stand up for what they believe in.
