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Our Vision for the RE department
Welcome to the RE department, where we aim to enable our young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens, through provoking questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
Our goal is to develop the pupils’ knowledge of Christianity and the other principal religions and traditions, and other world views that offer answers to challenging questions. We want opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development and to enhance pupils’ awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression, as well as the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures.
RE offers pupils the opportunity to learn from other religions, beliefs, values and traditions, while exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses.
We want our young people to develop their sense of identity and belonging and to flourish as individuals within their communities and as citizens in a diverse and global community. RE has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. We aim to enable them to develop respect for and sensitivity towards others, in particular those whose faith and beliefs are different from their own.
Independent Enquirers
This can be particularly developed in using a range of forms of expression and in reflecting upon and evaluating beliefs and values. In developing reasoned arguments and reflecting on their experiences, pupils can choose an approach and present it in their chosen style. When considering problems in a local community, workplace or the wider world. RE encourages pupils to ask why, to use their imagination, to empathise and to listen to themselves and other reflectively.
Creative Thinkers
Pupils think creatively when given the challenge of understanding a belief or ideal and imagining how it could apply to life. They can use creativity to develop empathy for particular groups, to resolve ethical problems or to imagine, describe and present questions that concern them. When evaluating how beliefs inform answers to ultimate questions and ethical issues, pupils use creative thinking to imagine their way into the experiences of others. Pupils’ creativity is also developed when they use reasoned arguments to express insights and beliefs. Creative thinking can be particularly required and developed in encountering people from different religious, cultural and philosophical groups, in visiting places of major religious significance and in using a range of forms of expression to communicate ideas and responses.
Team Workers
Pupils can be stimulated by working with each other’s ideas and experiences in areas of life that matter to them. RE promotes team working through investigation of the impact of beliefs, evaluation of beliefs inform answers to ultimate questions and ethical issues, interpretation of sources and expression of insights. Team working can be particularly developed when pupils work together to organise visits, plan questions, take decisions about projects or prepare presentation.
Examining and evaluating beliefs develops analytical skills and diplomacy in selecting evidence and presenting opinions. Through developing and presenting a persuasive argument on a religious or ethical issue, pupils gain skills in working together and interpreting each other’s responses. RE also contributes to team work through its engagement with important work-related issues, such as international trade, discrimination or freedom of movement. On these and other issues, pupils can work together to understand their work-related experiences, clarify their ideas, participate in debates or discussions and feed back to each other in evaluating issues.
Self-managers
RE creates contexts in which pupils can organise their own learning. It promotes self-management through investigation of the impact of beliefs, application of vocabulary, development of evidence and arguments and expression of insights. RE offers pupils an inner journey: the chance to reflect on their beliefs, attitudes, presuppositions and values in the light of their learning about and from religions and beliefs. Self-management can be particularly required and developed in dealing with issues that may evoke strong emotional reactions and in engaging sensitively with varying values and issues of identity and belonging. Learning experiences reinforce appropriate self-management for positive behaviour in a variety of public contexts, including workplaces, religious centres and meetings.
Effective participators
RE encourages pupils to participate through discussions, debate, group work and engagement with a diverse community. In RE, discussions about ultimate questions invite everyone’s view on an equal basis, and pupils can work together to clarify, deepen or challenge each other’s opinions. Investigating the impact of beliefs and evaluating the influence of religion can lead to successful participation in discussions of theological issues and responses to speakers in the media. When required to explain beliefs or express insights and ideas, pupils participate by contributing their own views and experiences. Effective participation can be particularly required and developed in encountering people from different religious, cultural and philosophical groups, in visiting places of major religious significance and in discussing, questioning and evaluating important issues.
Reflective learners
Pupils develop as reflective learners when they grapple with complex issues and encounter the values and belief systems of others. Examining a belief or practice can enable pupils to analyse its resemblance to beliefs and practices from different times, cultures or contexts. Pupils develop their reflective learning through evaluating how beliefs inform answers to ultimate questions and ethical issues. Reflective learning is also promoted through interpretation of sources, analysis of beliefs, arguments and ideas, and reflection on relationships between beliefs, world issues and ultimate questions. In exploring how religious communities organise their structures, deal with conflict and make a difference to environmental issues, pupils are encouraged to reflect on the lifestyles and work practices that religious and non-religious people choose to adopt, evaluating these in the light of their experience and learning.
Member of the RE team
Karen Halliwell Head of Humanities/PSCHE and Curriculum 2008
Charlotte Astbury Mills Teacher of RE/PSCHE and Art