RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AT OAK GREEN SCHOOL

Why do we teach what we teach? (Our intent)

At Oak Green, we teach RE weekly or in a block of time, throughout the school from Nursery to Year 6. We teach and learn about the different religions with a majority focus on Christianity and Islam due to the diverse culture of the school. We live in a world where religion can be a joy or an obstacle and it is more and more important that our children develop a knowledge of beliefs, their own faith, or none, and faiths other than their own so that they can understand the complexities of living in a multi-religious world. Through teaching RE, children have opportunity to reflect on their own convictions, begin to develop a world view and consider the part they play in the life of the school and more widely.

How do we teach it? (Our implementation)

At Oak Green we follow the Buckinghamshire Agreed Syllabus for RE which is based on learning and deepening their beliefs by learning from religion through learning about religion. Over the course of each term, children learn to form views of their own beliefs and the beliefs of others through research and enquiry. As we are non- denominational school, we teach a mixture of all religions and faiths including Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism, although Christianity is underlying focus in all year groups due to British Values. Included are many religious stories from these five faiths and all have an opportunity to learn from each other as they discover these. Children’s visits to places of worship are key to understanding communities and visitors share the experience of faith with us. The teaching of RE often crosses over into other subjects such as art and music and we seek to enrich children’s learning in creative ways.

What is the difference that this makes? (Our impact)

As children progress through the school, they begin to understand that everyone is entitled to their own ideas about religion, whether they are believers or not. They begin to understand that tolerance towards others and respect is a very important value. Through the teaching of Christianity and learning about other beliefs, children start to think about universal values that are held and find out that Christianity is a world religion which has a major impact on the laws and culture of Britain and many other countries.