Intent

At St Ann’s Heath Junior School, we understand clearly our responsibility in preparing children for their next stage of education and for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life, laying the foundations so that they can take their place successfully in modern British society. Within our RE curriculum, we promote a respect for and understanding of different faiths, cultures and lifestyles. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of each child is central to everything that we do as a school and mirrors our school values of “Respect / Achieve / Inspire / Strive / Encourage” This is evidenced throughout teaching and learning, our inclusive environment and through the many opportunities provided for our children to learn mutual respect and tolerance of both adults and peers in and out of the school environment.  We pride ourselves in the fact that all voices can be heard.

Implementation

RE is taught throughout the school using the Surrey SACRE agreed syllabus for religious education, which is updated every five years.  The syllabus is split into units of work relevant to each particular year group and at their level of thinking and learning. The units are generally taught as weekly lessons, or as blocks over a week if more enriching.  The majority of the RE curriculum focusses on Christianity:  Christmas and Easter units of work are taught in every year group – each with a different focus, and building on the previous year group’s knowledge and complexity of thinking. At least one other World Religion is taught in each year group, where beliefs, practices and religious celebrations are studied, often in a practical way.

As well as RE taught within the classroom environment, assemblies often focus on special celebrations within different cultures.  The school are lucky to have a link with Christchurch CofE Church, and a weekly assembly is delivered by the local pastor.