Subject definition:

Religious Education (RE) helps us learn about different beliefs, traditions, and ways people live all around the world. It’s not about telling us what to believe—it’s about helping us understand others, ask big questions, and think about what matters to us.

Aims:

• acquire and develop a knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other religions represented in Great Britain
• develop an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on the way people live
• enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 
• develop the ability to come to reasoned and informed opinions about religious and moral issues, making specific but not necessarily exclusive reference to the teachings of the principal religions represented in Great Britain
• develop positive attitudes towards other people, respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own, and towards living in a religiously diverse society.

Our Religious Education programme follows the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference IV. 

RE is also linked with other curriculum areas covering knowledge and understanding of religion, awareness of life experiences, exploring and responding. Children are encouraged to make wise choices and to become aware of their own values. Through opportunities to appreciate different ideas, beliefs and cultures, children are encouraged to develop responsibility, co-operation, self-discipline and tolerance.  

Our school community has a large range of different cultures and faiths, and we welcome opportunities to learn about these from the children. We also celebrate festivals and important days from other faiths and cultures, such as Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter.

We have a daily act of worship, which is non-denominational. Stories, poems, artwork, music and stories from the Old and New Testament are used to provoke children to reflect and develop their own thinking.

At North Farnborough Infant School we want all children to:

• Talk about their own responses to their experiences of the concepts explored.
• Talk about how their responses relate to their own lives and the lives of other people.
• Describe what has been taught about the concept in relation to the religion studied
• Discuss something of value in the concepts studied in relation to the religion studied, their lives and the lives of other people.

Parents/Carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE lessons. Please contact the school office to discuss this further.

Please click here for a link to the guidance for Religious Education in English schools.