Religious Education

At Crane Park Primary, we are required by law to follow Widening Horizons, the Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in the London Borough of Hounslow. The locally determined R.E. syllabus allows R.E. teaching to reflect the richness and diversity of the local Hounslow community.

The Aim of Religious Education

‘The aim of Religious Education in the London Borough of Hounslow is to help children and young people to learn about and learn from religious and spiritual insights, beliefs and practices.’ Widening Horizons (2012)

Intent

At Crane Park Primary School, we believe that it is important for all of our children to learn from and about religion, so that they can understand the world around them. The aim of Religious Education in our school is to help children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain; to appreciate the way that religious beliefs shape life and behaviour, develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. We also believe in teaching children that parts of our community have ethical non-theistic worldviews.

Religious Education is taught throughout the school in such a way as to reflect the values and philosophy of the school. RE topics are taught discretely and are mapped, where possible, to coincide with relevant celebrations for significant religions to add meaning and relevance to the children’s learning.

Religious Education plays an important role, along with other curriculum areas, particularly PSHCE, in promoting social awareness, tolerance and understanding in our children. We encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. We include and promote British values, ensuring that children are aware of their rights and responsibilities as UK citizens.

Our curriculum is designed to encourage creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, discussion and independence.

Implementation

At Crane Park, the following religions have been selected for study:

• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism
• Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma)
• Buddhism (Dhamma)
• Sikhism (Gurmat)
• Humanism

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 faith communities. Within each year group, specific places of worship are identified for visits, so that children experience first-hand from experts how religious observance is carried out.

We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our children. We promote teaching in Religious Education that stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children.