Religious Education
RE Curriculum Statement
At Crawford Village Primary School, we want our children to embrace religious education. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are. We want them to embody our core values of friendship, kindness, respect, integrity, perseverance and happiness. Our RE curriculum has been carefully designed so that our children 
develop their SMSC capital. We want our children to enjoy their RE lessons in our school, to cherish these memories and embrace the opportunities they are presented with! In Class 2, the children loved learning about Diwali and the preparations that Hindus make at this special time. They created their own Rangoli patterns with chalks and paints and the finished results were very impressive. Bringing RE to life is important at Crawford Village Primary School.
Intent
The teaching of RE at Crawford Village Primary School aims to:
• promote curiosity and a love and thirst for learning.
• be ambitious and empower our children to become independent and resilient.
• equip children with not only the requirements of the religious education National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
• allow our children to learn from other cultures, respect diversity, co-operate with one another and appreciate what they have. We achieve this by providing a strong SMSC curriculum, with British Values and our core values placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the religious education curriculum.
• to enrich our children’s time in school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities which are normally out of reach – this piques their interests and passions. For example, the whole school enjoyed a Christian wedding celebration to coincide with the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan. We chose a bride and groom, bridesmaids and page boys. There was music, singers, a bridal car and even a retired vicar to perform the ceremony. The whole community fully embraced the entire event and truly brought the celebration to life.
We firmly believe that it is not just what happens in the classroom, it is about the added value we offer to really inspire our children.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our curriculum has been designed to take into account the requirements and guidelines presented in the Agreed Syllabus and develop and children’s SMSC capital. The following religions have been selected for study:
• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism
• Hinduism
• Sikhism
• Buddhism
- Through an enquiry based approach and first hand experiences, we give the children the skills they need to rationally address this and many of the other big questions they will face through their lives.
- We do not lead children to any specific faith but use RE to encourage pupils to learn and develop the positive attitudes of curiosity, wonder, appreciation, commitment, fairness and self-awareness to the beliefs and values of others.
- 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.
IMPACT
• The children at Crawford Village Primary enjoying learning lots about religions and why people choose, or choose not to follow a religion.
• Our children embody our core values of friendship, kindness, respect, integrity, perseverance and happiness.
• Through their R.E. learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world.
• Through R.E. our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community.
• R.E. offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way. As such, R.E. is invaluable in an ever changing and shrinking world.
RE in EYFS
Children may begin to explore the world of religion in terms of special people, books, times, places and objects and by visiting places of worship. They listen to and talk about stories. They are introduced to religious words where appropriate and use their senses in exploring religions and beliefs, practices and forms of expression. They reflect on their own feelings and experiences. They use their imagination and curiosity to develop their appreciation and wonder of the world in which they live.
Religious Education can make an active contribution to all areas but has a particularly important contribution to make to:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Children use some stories from religious traditions as a stimulus to reflect on their own feelings and experiences and explore them in various ways.
• Using a story as a stimulus, children reflect on the words and actions of characters and decide what they would have done in a similar situation. They learn about the story and its meanings through activity and play.
• Using role-play as a stimulus, children talk about some of the ways that people show love and concern for others and why this is important.
• Children think about issues of right and wrong and how humans help one another.
Communication and Language
• Children have opportunities to respond creatively, imaginatively and meaningfully to memorable experiences.
• Using a religious celebration as a stimulus, children talk about special events associated with the celebration.
• Through artefacts, stores and music, children learn about important religious celebrations.
Understanding of the World
• Children ask and answer questions about religion and culture, as they occur naturally within their everyday experiences.
• Children visit places of worship.
• They listen to and respond to a wide range of religious and ethnic groups.
• They handle artefacts with curiosity and respect.
Expressive Arts and Design
• Using religious artefacts as a stimulus, children think about and express meanings associated with the artefact.
• Children share their own experiences and feelings and those of others, and are supported in reflecting on them.