RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
The role of Religious Education in schools is to help prepare and equip all pupils for life and citizenship in today’s diverse and plural Britain, through fostering in each pupil an increasing level of religious literacy.
A religiously literate person would have an established and growing knowledge and understanding of beliefs, practices, spiritual insights and secular world views. In the context of their own considered standpoint they would also be open to engaging with the views of others in a plural world. In consequence, the aims of RE within the Staffordshire Agreed Syllabus are that pupils should acquire:
The Agreed Syllabus must reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. [Section 375 Education Act 1996].
In the Early Years Foundation Stage pupils will have the opportunity to encounter a diversity of faiths represented in their community and in Great Britain. Giving young children familiarity with the presence of major faiths and a wide religious vocabulary raises awareness of the diverse nature of the world around them and provides a structure in which to develop their learning.
At Key Stage One will focus on Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. At Key Stage Two pupils will focus on Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.