Religious and Beliefs Education

 

"Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads as long as we reach the same goal?  In reality, there are as many different religions as they are individuals"  Ghandhi

Religious Education (RE) is not a National Curriculum subject, but must be provided for all registered pupils in state-funded schools in England including those in the sixth form, unless withdrawn by their parents. If you wish to withdraw your child, please speak to your child's class teacher.  It is a necessary part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

As RE is not nationally determined a locally agreed syllabus of RE is prepared by a local Standard Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) and adopted by a local authority. It is this Hertfordshire Agreed Syllabus of Religious Education which we use as the basis of our planning and delivering of RE at Ladbrooke JMI School.

Learning about differences
In nursery, children start to become more aware that their family's beliefs may be different from their friends'.
Recognising differences
Small world resources reflect our communities and help young children explore them in hands-on ways.
Learning through stories
Many well-known stories, such as Noah's Ark, are significant across various religions.
Dragon dance
The children learned about different spiritual and cultural traditions when celebrating the Lunar New Year with a dragon dance.
Celebrating together
Our 'Seasonal Singalong' aims to be inclusive of our whole school community.
Learning about diverse beliefs
Through role play, children learn that people have different beliefs, foods, clothes, and celebrations, and that this diversity is something to respect.
Using real objects
In reception, artefacts, food and clothes spark curiosity and conversations.

To ensure that all pupils develop knowledge and understanding of sources of wisdom and their impact  whilst exploring personal and critical responses.  It drives children's development and progress in becoming religiously and theologically literate.

To enable children and young people according to their ability and level of development to:

1. acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of the principal religions represented in Great Britain. These include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism, each of which is represented in Hertfordshire;

2. develop an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, societies and cultures, including the local community;

3. develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues with reference to the teachings of the principal religions;

4. enhance their own development by: 

  • developing awareness of the fundamental questions of life arising from human experiences, and how religious beliefs and practices can relate to them;
  • b) responding to the fundamental questions of life in the light of their experience and with reference to religious beliefs and practices;
  • reflecting on their own beliefs, values and experiences in the light of their study;
  • expressing their own personal viewpoints in a thoughtful, reasoned and considerate way.

5. recognise the right of people to hold different beliefs within an ethnically and socially diverse society.

Religious Education has an important role to play in preparing pupils for adult life. It encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging. It enables them to develop individually, within their communities, as members of a diverse society and as global citizens

Religious Education enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths, beliefs and world views are different from their own. It promotes discernment and enables pupils to overcome prejudice.

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development 

Responsibility for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils runs across the whole school. RE makes a significant contribution, encouraging personal reflection and development in addition to intellectual growth.

Religious Education should promote pupils':

• spiritual development through recognising and valuing their own spirituality, reflecting on and questioning their own and others’ life experiences and beliefs, understanding and appreciating the earth and the universe as sources of sustenance and inspiration;

• moral development through understanding moral dilemmas, the difference between right and wrong, consideration and concern for others, recognising personal obligations, making reasoned and informed judgements;

• social development through understanding religious communities and their activities, respecting similarities and differences, being a responsible

citizen at local, national and global levels;

• cultural development through developing a sense of belonging to and engaging with local, regional and national cultures, learning how to appreciate difference and diversity, recognising common values which cross cultures, appreciating the impact of the environment on cultural traditions.

A church Visit
Year 1 and 2 went on a trip to the local church to learn all about baptisms.
What things are important to me and my family?
A lesson focused on recognising what is important to us and why it matters.
How do Muslims pray?
In this lesson, children learned how Muslims pray by exploring the steps of Salat and designing their own prayer mats.
Prayer in Islam
As part of our learning about prayer in Islam, this child demonstrates how her family use a prayer mat during prayer.
How do Hindus pray?
In this lesson, the children learned how Hindus pray using a Puja tray and explored the meaning behind each item.
The Christmas Story
Year 1 enjoyed a special visit from Father Stephan, who came to talk with the children about the Christmas story.
Year 2 had lots of questions to ask Father Stefan!
A special presentation!
A Year 2 pupil proudly delivered a presentation all about Hanukkah and how he and his family celebrate it.

Religious Education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.  It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses. It develops pupils’ awareness, knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principal religions, religious traditions and world views.

The principal religious traditions focused on in this syllabus are, in accordance with guidance from Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. If at any time we have children from other faiths in our school community, this will be taken into account when planning for religious education. Humanism and Atheism are not ‘religions’ but are world views which may be appropriate to mention

We follow the programmes of study set out in the Hertfordshire Agreed Syllabus of Religious Education.  R.E. is taught weekly by class teachers. R.E. offers distinctive opportunities to promote children’s’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

R.E.  offers a structured and safe space with time for reflection, discussion, dialogue and debate.

There are 8 different topics taught:

  • Beliefs and practices
  • Sources of wisdom
  • Symbols and actions
  • Prayer, worship and reflection
  • Identity and belonging
  • Ultimate questions
  • Human responsibility and values
  • Justice and fairness

Each topic is revisited in greater depth as children progress through foundation stage, key stage 1, lower key stage 2 and upper key stage 2. This will support a growing sense of children’s awareness of self, their own community and their place within it.

Buddha Statues
A mindful moment examining statues of Buddha. We learn about Buddha’s journeys and his wisdom for the path to enlightenment.
Buddhist Meditation
Exploring how this Buddhist image might be used as a focus point for meditation.
Brahman
These symbols of the Hindu deity Ganesh helped us to explore the idea of the universal spirit known as Brahman.
Hindu Wisdom
We enjoyed the story of Ganesh’s wisdom when he raced his brother around the world. It helps to understand why Hindus often worship him when they seek to overcome obstacles.
Sikh Commitment
The 5 K’s are the physical symbols worn by Sikhs to demonstrate their commitment to their faith and to one another.
Belonging
We thought about how some aspects of devotion to religions might be challenging but very rewarding.
Hindu Text
This lesson was about the Ramayana, a sacred Hindu text which has themes of duty, honour, and the triumph of good over evil. It is the inspiration for the festival of Diwali.
Pilgrimages
Learning about some religious pilgrimages. Being at an important holy site with many people who share your belief and commitment can be a powerful way to strengthen your faith.
Muslim Holy Book
We are lucky to have classmates who are Muslims. This lesson was about their holy book, the Quran and how it is a guide for how to live a good life.
Christian Community
Father Stefan is the priest at St Mary’s church. At Christmas, our community shares the festive spirit by singing carols there.
Religious Leaders
Our work on the work of religious leaders helped us to think about the many qualities needed to take on such a responsible role in people’s lives.
Places of Worship
We visited the magnificent St Albans Cathedral, the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain.
Keeping Faith
Learning about St Alban. He was a Roman Christian who showed great courage and self-sacrifice to keep his faith.
Inspiration
Religious buildings are full of history and can be inspiring.

Through the RE curriculum, we aim to develop the children's skills in Asking and Answering questions, Discussion, Research, Interviewing faith visitors, Visits to religious places, Explain findings, Making comparisons, Making links, Looking at artefacts, Writing opportunities.

In RE we like to share ideas about what we've learnt, for example...

Teachers assess learning through out lessons and attainment is reported to parents each term.

Identity and Belonging
Pupils in year 5 explore identify and belonging by sharing their own experiences and understanding of different religions
Identify and Belonging
Through discussions and collaboration, the children develop respect for diverse beliefs and a deeper understanding of community
Prayer, Worship and Reflection
Pupils explored religious symbols and actions by handling artefacts and discussing their meaning.
Beliefs and Practices
Year 6 explored sources of wisdom by engaging with sacred texts and relating these to other artefacts they have previously learned about.
Justice and Fairness
The children were able to compare three main religions, discussing similarities and differences on ideas of right and wrong
Sources of Wisdom
Year 6 studied the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. They thought about what it teaches us and compared this story to the charity work of groups such as Christian Aid.
Justice and Fairness
In connection to our RE work, Year 6 visited the House of Parliament to find out more about Justice and Fairness.
Justice and Fairness
The children found out what happens in this building. One child enjoyed it so much, he came back again a few weeks later to watch a debate.

RE Curriculum Links

R.E. Pupil Quotes

"You get presents when it’s Eid and you get presents when it’s Christmas."

Nursery pupil

"My Nanna is from Ireland. People from Ireland celebrate Christmas and St Patrick’s Day."

Nursery pupil

"I have a Diwali dress. It’s a yellow one. I wear it on special days."

Reception pupil

"People in Cyprus don’t wear saris. I think people in India wear them."

Reception pupil

"We don’t have to be the same."

Reception pupil

"I go to church"

Year 1 pupil

"I am Muslim. My mummy and daddy pray on a prayer mat."

Year 1 pupil

"I know some symbols – There is a Cross in Christianity. There is a star for Judaism and a Moon and star in Islam."

Year 1 pupil

"Muslims pray 5 times a day to God. They use a prayer mat which has lots of pretty patterns and colours on. Muslims can go to the mosque to pray."

Year 1 pupil

"We were learning about the festival of light. We designed our own Rangoli patterns. They are very colourful."

Year 2 pupil

"We read about the ant and the grasshopper. This story told us to always be kind and look after the people around us."

Year 2 pupil

"We learnt we need rules, so no one gets hurt or upset especially our friends."

Year 2 pupil

"Being quiet helps you to concentrate. It makes you keep focused. It is disrespectful to mess around when you are praying. Praying helps to keep you close to your God. Some religions use a bell, and ring it before they pray. Christians might make the sign of the cross or light a candle. I think it helps you to feel like your prayer is important."

Year 3 pupil

"In a Mosque you wash before you pray, this show that you are clean before you speak to God. Muslims try to pray five times a day.  Some people try to follow all the rules of their religion but not everybody does all of them. Sometimes my family go to the temple, but we also pray at home. I have rosary beads to help me pray. I pray at night. I can pray anywhere – even when I am school."

Year 3 pupil

"We have been learning about lots of different religions. We went to St Albans cathedral on our school trip."

Year 3 pupil

"People who have different religions can respect each other’s ideas. If I was a Christian and I was with Muslims, then we could share stories and try each other’s things. I often go to my Jewish friend’s house for celebrations, and there is always nice food."

Year 4 pupil

"Hindus think cows are sacred. That means they look after them really well. Not everyone does that, but they do look after things they think God made. Christians believe in the stories in the bible and what Jesus said. Muslims believe in the Qur’an. I read the Qur’an. Christians and Muslims and Judaism all have similar stories that they believe in. The stories in the books are like the rules."

Year 4

"In Islam Joseph was a prophet and his story is interesting. I like the Hindu story about a race around the world between Ganesh and his brother. They wanted to earn a golden mango but instead of going all the way around the world, Ganesh went around his parents three times to show that respect for his parents was his whole world. He won for being so clever."

Year 4 pupil

"We have been comparing two different religions: Sikhism and Islam. I know that their gods are different and where they worship is different. Muslims go the mosque and Sikhs worship at the Gurdwara. We have studied these religions before but we go into detail in Year 5."

Year 5 pupil

"I see mosques when I’m driving around and I tell my mum what I know about them."

Year 5 pupil

"I know that Sikhs believe that all people are equal and they show this by eating on the floor altogether."

Year 5 Pupil

"I thought I knew about Islam but I have enjoyed finding out more, like Muslims must take off their shoes, wash their hands and cover their hair when they go into the mosque, this is a sign of respect."

Year 5 pupil

"We have compared lots of religions. I could remember information we had learned in the other years but we used different vocabulary in year 6."

Year 6 pupil

"Vocabulary such as pilgrimage, secular and rite of passage. I have learned about them and now I know what these words mean. I liked thinking about my Rites of Passage. I asked my mum about them when I got home."

Year 6 pupil

"The parable of the sheep is a story about right and wrong – where the sheep are the good people who follow their shepherd (who is Jesus) and the goats are the bad people who don’t listen or follow."

Year 6 pupil

"I know that the apartheid was wrong because people were not treated equally. They were discriminated against. This was an interesting lesson because I had seen his face but didn’t know what he was called and what he did. (Nelson Mandela),"

Year 6 Pupil