Religious Education

A major part of the meaning of life is contained in the very process of discovering it.

The Education Act of 1988 requires that Religious Education be taught to all pupils. It must be “in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principle religions represented in Great Britain.”

Religious education at St John the Evangelist CE Primary School explores how individuals and communities make meaning and sense of their lives through the major religions of the world. It enables pupils to know about, understand and respond to the important and ultimate questions of life. Religious education is taught in such a way that it inspires pupils to explore, develop and affirm their own faith and values and have respect for the faith, beliefs and values of others. It is not the practice of this school to preach to or seek to convert children. Values education permeates the religious education curriculum at St John the Evangelist CE Primary School.

As a voluntary aided Church of England school, the Governing Body has adopted the Oxfordshire Agreed Syllabus, delivering this through an inquiry-based approach that allows for a deeper reflection and questioning.

During the Foundation Stage, RE is taught within three Areas of Learning: Personal, Social, and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Understanding the World. The aim is to provide for children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through focusing on what is special to young children, as a stepping stone to understanding what is special to a faith community. 

Throughout Key Stage One pupils study Christianity and some aspects of Judaism; a more in-depth study of these religions takes place in Key Stage Two as well as an introduction to Islam and Hinduism.

Religious education is generally taught as a separate subject, although, we plan whole school themes that use RE as a starting point for learning across a range of subjects. In addition, we have special RE days to create a memorable; more holistic and hopefully less disjointed learning experience for our pupils. 

We have strong links with St. John the Evangelist Church so, as well as visiting the church for acts of worship, we use the church as a teaching resource whenever possible. The Vicar is a regular visitor in school, both to lead acts of worship and to talk about his role in the church as part of the R.E. curriculum.

Although parents are entitled to withdraw their children from Religious education, we encourage all children to participate in this very important area of the curriculum.

We want to ensure that R.E is an exciting, meaningful subject. We base each topic in RE around a series of questions and we always begin by starting from what the children know already. The questions posed are explored in great depth to provoke deep thinking. To do this we spend much time reflecting, discussing, debating and providing first hand experiences.

Click here to view: Religious Education Policy