Religious Education is part of the basic curriculum in England and must have a design that reflects the main religious faith in the UK (Christianity), while including other world religions. Our curriculum reflects our community, with strong ties to our school values of Respect, Tolerance and Friendship, and a deep connection with the Woodard values of Wisdom, Ambition, Trust, Unity and Faith.
Religious Education equips pupils with the knowledge, skills and experiences to develop their own views on religion, faith and morality, while ensuring they have a deep understanding of religious beliefs and practices. At Kings Priory School, we welcome children of all faiths and none, so it is particularly important that we learn about religion in a way that is respectful, tolerant and friendly to others. We do not seek to promote specific faith doctrines but instead to broaden each pupil’s sense of moral courage, dignity, self-respect, kindness and generosity, through religious education.
There are five key skills that each pupil develops in RE: Investigation, Interpretation, Empathy, Self-Expression and Reflection. These are essential for scholarship – the term we use to describe the academic method of studying religion.
Investigation
Religious Education requires scholarship and this begins with investigation. We get to understand how belief systems work in religions through a variety of ways. This includes looking at textual sources, such as sacred writing (The Bible or Qur’an for example), but also by looking at the traditions and practices, personal testimony and experiences, as well as broader contextual information, such as maps, demographics, artefacts, buildings and events.
To be a scholar is to develop one’s own personal expertise in a subject matter. We encourage our pupils not just to understand religion superficially, but to nurture their personal curiosity and inquisitiveness. Learning religion is not merely about instruction or doctrine, it requires critical thinking, intellectual scepticism and reasoning.
Learning about religion means trying to read and interpret ideas that are vastly different, challenging and stimulating. For example, some Christians believe The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, literally accurate in every conceivable way. Other Christians believe The Bible to be divinely inspired, but the work of human hands, with a range of possible meanings, layers and interpretations
Interpretation
Understanding how these differing methods of interpretation impact on beliefs and practices in religion is very important.
In addition, the RE curriculum makes use of sources that come from very different times, places, culture and languages, from ancient Hindi and south Asia to the English Reformation. And from the Ancient Hebrew of the Torah to late iron age Greek and middle-ages Arabic.
The vast geographical and temporal scope of the sources tell us how significant interpretation is to the subject. Much of what pupils are grappling with has been interpreted and reinterpreted by many civilisations across the world for thousands of years.
This is what makes the subject so fascinating. Pupils are reading texts and discussing stories that are age-old but which often have new meanings or new and multiple competing interpretations and ways of being relevant to the world today.
Empathy
Central to religious education is the development of Empathy, not as a personal trait but as a value within the subject discipline.
One need not share anything of another person’s belief system in order to show empathy towards them.
Understanding a value system helps us to make sense of a religion and its culture. For example, students who can appreciate the profound differences between the Roman pantheon and its role in the imperial political system might well understand why Christianity challenged this system while other minor religions did not.
In addition, empathy encourages a culture of sharing, debating and discussing ideas sensitively and respectfully in the classroom, just as scholars demonstrate respect for each other’s academic endeavours, even when they might disagree.
Self-Expression
As we learn about matters of belief, faith, values, morals and decision-making, it’s important that pupils are given the opportunity to be themselves and express their own feelings.
Religious Education is supposed to encourage growth and development so that a person can become more fully aware of their own self and their place in society.
Unlike religious instruction (where young people are taught specific religious doctrines) religious education creates space for pupils to question themselves and others, to change their minds, to admit what they don’t know and to be comfortable with change, difference, diversity, uncertainty and awe as well as being open about their faith, convictions and morals. The curriculum facilitates this through debate, public speaking, group work, discursive writing and journaling.
Reflection
One aspect of Religious Education that is unique to our subject is the time, consideration and value assigned to personal reflection.
The subject is not limited to gaining an understanding of a body of knowledge, though this is central and important. There is a key disciplinary skill running through all the engagement with the content that we call reflection. It means thinking more deeply, asking the less-obvious questions and in particularly trying to make a distinction between what beliefs and practices might mean to me, compared to what it means for others.
A perfect example of this is to think about a topic that almost everyone is familiar with, that we learn about in RE: religious festivals! What does Christmas mean to me? Is it different to what Christmas means to all Christians? Why do Christians have differing views about how Christmas should be celebrated? Why do many non-Christians celebrate this religious festival? Does Christmas have a different meaning for me as it does for others and where does that difference come from?
Reflection means students can become aware of the ‘lens’ through which they view the world around them.
This skill is essential for good communication skills. A speaker or writer who understands their audience’s viewpoint can be much more persuasive and insightful. This makes for more meaningful, respectful and productive debate and scholarship.
Right to Withdraw
Parents can withdraw their children from parts or all of the Religious Education curriculum through consultation with the school. You should contact your child's Head of Year if you wish to discuss this. Please note that although this time will be supervised, no additional teaching will be delivered in this time.