RE

Why we follow 'Living Difference III'

The Education Act 2002 states that:

RE is a statutory subject to be taught in all schools except nursery schools
RE in all community, foundation and voluntary controlled schools should be taught in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus
parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons -see below for further information*
each county/council must have a Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE)
the agreed syllabus for RE must reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking account of the other principal religions represented in the country
SACRE should review its agreed syllabus every five years.

As a Hampshire LA school, our local agreed syllabus is Living Difference III.

Each unit has a concept (theme). This provides our children with an opportunity to reflect on the learning within their own lives and experiences, even if they do not practise the focus religion.

RE units follow a cycle of enquiry and begins at Communicate or Enquire. At least 50% of learning time is given to the teaching of beliefs or practices of a religion, this happens during the Contextualise and Evaluate steps of the learning cycle.

At Park View, we study units with a Christian context for approximately half of the units. The children will also learn about a comparative religion:

Years 1 and 2 - Judaism

Years 3 and 4 - Hindu traditions

Year 5 and 6 - Islam

In the Nursery and Reception years, we regularly share stories from world religions and topics throughout the year allow children to share ideas and experiences. This allows children to gain confidence in expressing their thoughts and being respectful toward the beliefs and ideas of others.

*Withdrawal from RE

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from parts or all of the RE curriculum. In the first instance, the Headteacher would like to discuss with parents their particular concerns. This also provide an opportunity to drew up a clear agreement which parts of the RE curriculum a child is being withdrawn from.