Our intention

At St Johns, it is our intent that Religious Education will provide pupils with the opportunity to explore Christianity. Study will be in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and pupils will acquire knowledge of the beliefs and practices of other Christian denominations and faiths, and of other religious groups.

Our belief is that good teaching in RE allows children both to learn about religious traditions and to reflect on and question what the religious ideas and concepts mean to them. Our teaching enables children to extend their own sense of values and promotes their spiritual growth and development.

In summary our intent is:

• to develop a knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith
• to develop pupil’s growth and faith and
• to enable pupils to encounter a living faith.

How we implement Religious Education

At St Johns we use the Hampshire agreed syllabus- Living Difference IV and Understanding Christianity as a key resource. Each unit of work is based around a key concept which will broaden and challenge children’s learning at the point of contextualisation.

The cycle of enquiry is summarised as:

• Communication
• Apply
• Enquire
• Contextualise
• Evaluate

The concepts are structured through our long term planning to recap and build upon previous knowledge and challenge children in each year group to ask questions and find out more at each stage of their learning.

We encourage children to think about their own views and values in relation to the themes and concepts studied in the RE curriculum and to build on their own experiences.

Additionally, children study particular religious faiths and compare the religious views of different faith groups through key events such as festivals. Children discuss religious and moral issues through specifically planned P4C sessions and use sensory methods such as handling religious artefacts and listening to religious music.

In our school we teach RE to all children, whatever their ability. The teaching of RE is a vital part of our school curriculum policy, which states that  we challenge pupils to think deeply, make links and aims to inspire a lifelong love of learning.

We assess children’s work in religious education by making informal judgements as we observe them during lessons. Teachers will comment on the range of statements of attainment throughout key stage 2.

The impact of Religious Education in our school

Religious Education provokes challenging questions about:

• the ultimate meaning and purpose of life
• beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, and
• issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.

Based on the Christian faith pupils at St Johns School will have a sound understanding of the central importance of Jesus to the Christian faith and develop and awareness of the central beliefs of Christianity.

In summary:

• Religious Education at St Johns develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of religion, skills of enquiry and ability to question and reflect.
• Religious Education at St Johns encourages pupils to consider challenging questions of the meaning and purpose of life, understand the influence of religion, learn from different religions, develop their sense of identity and belonging, and develop respect for and sensitivity to others.

You can read our Long term plan for RE below