At Byker Primary School, we have created our RE with the intent that our children will become resilient, mindful, accepting and inquisitive learners.

The curriculum has been developed to allow children to encounter religions within our community and wider world.  We believe that good quality RE is an essential key for our children in understanding others beliefs and making connections between their own values.

Understanding our place in the world

To understand their place in the world, our children will use an ethnographic approach to help them relate to stories, celebrations, artefacts and events to particular children in particular faith communities. The ethnographic approach allows the children to identify with the life of a child who is both the same as them but also has different cultural experiences, faith stories and practices. This can be explored through visits and visitors, pictures, persona dolls, or a bag of objects that belong to a child of a particular faith. Children will start reflecting on their place in the world in terms of where they belong.  In Early Years they will start small and concentrate on their immediate family and carers.  As they progress through school, they will begin to think about how they belong to school, the local community, city wide community and eventually, in the world.

Aspiring to achieve

RE is meaningful in any society where beliefs and values are important, it’s about getting pupils to engage with the big questions of life.  Children understand that the knowledge and skills they acquire in RE lessons will lead them to successful careers which involve working collaboratively with others.

Broadening horizons

RE is an important part of cultivating a child’s self-expression.  Children are encouraged to reflect on themselves, their beliefs and to compare these to the beliefs of others. Children learn how religion influences individuals, families, communities and cultures.  They will explore the political and social impact of religion and reflect on issues of justice and truth, all while developing and affirming personal identity and responsible citizenship.

The teaching and implementation of the R.E. curriculum at Byker Primary School is based on the Newcastle LEA Agreed Syllabus for RE (2020).

We recognise the variety of religious and non-religious families from which our pupils come. We welcome and celebrate this diversity, are sensitive to the home background of each child and work to ensure that all pupils feel and are included in our R.E. programme.

We acknowledge the importance of pupils’ all-round personal development and the leading role that R.E. plays in contributing to the spiritual, moral social and cultural elements in particular. We affirm the equality of importance of the twin aims of R.E. as expressed in the agreed syllabus and teach to these in a balanced way, ensuring that the ‘affective’ dimension of R.E. is addressed. This Scheme of Work provides a model for teaching and learning in Religious Education from EYFS through to Year 6.

The locally agreed syllabus for RE aims to ensure that all pupils:

• know about and understand a range of religions and world views.
• are able to express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and world views.
• acquire and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and world views.