Religious Education

Intent 

At Lynch Hill, we teach RE in a weekly block of time throughout the school. We feel it is vitally important for children to develop a knowledge of beliefs, their own faith, or none and faiths other than their own so that they can understand the complexities of living in a multi-religious world. Through teaching RE, using the Discovery RE programme, children have the opportunity to reflect on their own convictions, begin to develop a worldview and consider the part they play in the life of the school and more widely. 

All staff have a good understanding of the five world religions and their practices and beliefs and facilitate RE lessons where the children can explore and compare the similarities and differences between these religions. 

Having joined the SACRE, we are hoping to gain more experience, meet with other local schools, share ideas and resources and create links with religious communities across Slough. 

Implementation 

Here at Lynch Hill, we follow Discovery RE, exploring the following themes – religious figures, religious stories, religious times, religious places and objects, through key questions. One of the aims of the Pan Berkshire syllabus notes that children will be ‘developing awareness of the fundamental questions of life raised by human experiences, and how religious teachings can relate to them’ and ‘responding to such questions with reference to the teachings and practices of religions and to their understanding and experience’ . Through this enquiry approach, we answer a big question at the beginning of each unit. We explore the different faiths from around the world, including Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Christianity. Pupils have opportunities to visit local places of worship (currently only Y5 and Y6, with plans to expand to other year groups) which are key to understanding communities and experience the faith. We also seek to enrich the pupils’ learning in creative ways. 

Impact 

As pupils progress through the school, they begin to understand that everyone is entitled to their own ideas about religion, whether they are believers or not. They begin to understand that tolerance towards others and respect is a very important value. Through the teaching of other religions, pupils start to think about universal values that are held and how religion has an impact on the laws and culture of Britain. This is mirrored in all other areas of the curriculum through the five British Values – democracy, mutual respect, individual liberty, rules of law and tolerance.