RE

“Every child has the right to think and believe what they choose and also to practise their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights.” – UNICEF The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

At Wormholt Park Primary School, our intent is to teach children to be kind and respectful of everyone.

We are a UNICEF ‘Rights Respecting’ school and we are dedicated to ensuring children learn that they have responsibilities as well as rights – responsibilities to themselves, others and to the environment. We are very proud of our Gold UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award. At our school, children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. Our Rights Respecting Schools commitment embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to become responsible, active citizens.

Intent

Our intent, when teaching Religious Education, is to develop children’s skills of enquiry, reasoned argument and reflections. Educating children about religions, offers a place of integrity and security, within which difficult questions can be tackled in a safe but challenging context. In Religious Education, pupils discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions, in local, national and global contexts, through learning about and from religions and other world views. This helps children to understand the world around them. Children are encouraged to ask questions about their surroundings and the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences.

Implementation

At Wormholt Park Primary School, we use the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham’s Religious Education Agreed Syllabus, which has been modified and adapted for use in H&F schools. Hammersmith and Fulham is an increasingly diverse Borough. The Agreed Syllabus was written by experts who brought together representatives of the major world faiths and humanism to adopt a syllabus to be used as a basis for teaching children and young people of all ages and abilities.

Impact

Pupils’ progress in RE is based on the expected outcomes and assessment criteria outlined in Living Difference. These outcomes form the basis of our school assessment. Pupils are assessed through class discussions and in the learning in their books.

The cycles of enquiry, forming our curriculum, encourage children to use their own experiences and the experiences of others to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them. It is helpful for the children to be exposed to many of the similarities between religious beliefs and the concepts they have in common. This is vital in a world where views are becoming more polarised and extremist ideologies are so accessible on the internet.

Our children learn to respect those with different beliefs and celebrate diversity whilst finding common ground on important values which guide religious and non-religious people.

Parents have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of the RE curriculum.