R.E.

RE has a special contribution as it touches upon and links all areas of learning taught in our multi faith school.

It particularly overlaps and makes links to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of our children and British Values which include Democracy, Rule of Law, Individual Liberty and Respect and Tolerance. It is interwoven within the coverage of our PSHE curriculum.  RE is regarded as an essential subject at Pickhurst Infant Academy as it fully supports children’s well-being and sense of belonging in the school community.

As required by law RE is taught as part of our basic curriculum and is taught in accordance with the Bromley Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (2020). For further syllabus ideas and resources, we also use Discovery RE (tailored to follow the Bromley 2020 Syllabus).

Our syllabus is predominantly about All religions and faiths; however, Christianity Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism are the main focus religions on which we centre around to enable children to learn about many different faiths in a contextual way rather than looking at them individually, in isolation. As well as the systemic units which focus on these major religions, our scheme of work also encompasses some thematic approaches and big questions which draw on a number of religions and how they may relate in different ways. Our curriculum enables the children to consider 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. It allows pupils to develop knowledge and understanding of different faiths, religious traditions and worldwide views. RE therefore provides valuable opportunities for reflection, and encourages our children to develop their sense of identity.

Our vision is to use an active approach to learning that is multisensory, creative and far removed from simply relying on children’s literacy skills to show progression and their knowledge and understanding. We achieve this through role play, storytelling, discussion, group work, some artistic and practical work and technology as well as some independent recordings pitched appropriately to the needs of different groups and individuals. We recognise interesting hooks such as visiting places of worship and receiving visitors from different faith communities not only ignites children’s interests but helps to make learning memorable. In addition, we want learning to be fun and as practical as possible so use artefacts, props and other sensory stimuli as a start point in lessons such as listening to cultural music, learning ceremonial dances and tasting festival foods from around the world.