In Religious Education, a Roundwood leaver will have…
… a good understanding of, an empathy for and respect towards a range of different religions. We encourage the children to think about and respectfully question the religions and religious ideas that are covered, giving them the opportunity to make up their own minds, whilst understanding and respecting the ideas of others, who may think the same or differently to them.
Religious Education plays an important role in the diverse curriculum taught here at Roundwood. We hope that our Religious Education lessons encourage pupils to develop as tolerant young people with respect and understanding of the views of others, including the beliefs and practices of religions and other world views.
Our Religious Education curriculum is designed around the Hertfordshire agreed syllabus 2017 – 2022. We have taken the syllabus and created a long-term plan that suits our school. As the children progress through the school, they are introduced to increasingly diverse religions and religious ideas, where the religions studied are chosen to be representative of faith communities within the wider local area.
We think it is important that the children understand that Religious Education is not only a discreet subject, but that it is part of many people’s daily lives. With this in mind, key religious celebrations are explored in whole school assemblies and we encourage parental engagement to help us bring Religious Education to life.
Religious Education at Roundwood reflects the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian. With his in mind, Christianity (Christian traditions and beliefs) is taught regularly across each key stage. The children are introduced to an increasing variety of religions and worldviews as they progress through the school.
In Early Years Foundation Stage, children learn RE in order to support a growing sense of their own awareness of self, our community and their place within this. Children look at a range of religious festivals and participate in a range of hands-on activities to promote their understanding.
In Key Stage 1, children learn about prayer and worship; religious artefacts; sacred texts; faith stories; ‘big’ questions and what it means to belong to a family and a community. Each unit of work takes Christianity as its focus with Islam, Judaism and Hinduism also being explored where appropriate.
In Lower Key Stage 2, children learn about marking festivals; communicating through sacred spaces and prayer; sacred stories and their guidance and impact; ‘big’ questions and different ideas about God; gods, and creation. Each area of study takes Christianity at its core and children then explore the same concepts as they are represented in Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism.
In Upper Key Stage 2, children learn about, symbolic ways of expressing meaning; celebrations and key events in life; the significance of salvation; free will and determinism; justice and fairness and human responsibility and values; ultimate questions and beliefs and practices. Children explore these topics through a range of religious, non-religious and worldviews.
Children are encouraged to learn about religious traditions, festivals and ideas using appropriate artefacts whenever possible. Across the school, children visit different churches both as part of RE lessons, lessons across the curriculum and for religious celebrations. We are developing our provision to allow all children the opportunity to visit a range of places of worship to help develop a deeper understanding of the differing religions in our wider local community.
