Intent:

At St Lawrence, we believe that it is important to develop our pupil’s understanding and appreciation of the different religions and cultures within our school, local community and wider world while also promoting and holding dear our Christian ethos.  Our school values of ‘Love, Compassion and Respect’ underpin everything we do across all areas of school life.  Our RE curriculum plays an important role in promoting social awareness and understanding in our children as we celebrate diversity while also exploring similarities between different religions, cultures and beliefs. We encourage each child to ask questions about the world and reflect upon their place within it as part of our local and global community. The RE curriculum encourages pupils to have a respectful and tolerant attitude to others while supporting in the development of their own values.  It includes and promotes British values, ensuring our children are aware of their rights and responsibilities as UK citizens.

Implementation:

Every child in St Lawrence takes part in a weekly RE lesson which either links to the Hampshire Living Difference or Understanding Christianity syllabus.  Although the Religious Education at St Lawrence is mainly Christian, year groups study an alternative religion 2 half terms each year.  In Key Stage One this is Judaism, in Years 3 and 4, this focus is learning about Hinduism and in Year 5 and 6 the children explore the Islamic faith.  This allows our children to build their understanding of the principles of these religions in the first year, while then digging deeper into specific concepts in the second year. The focus of RE lessons is for the children to undertake in a meaningful discussion of the concepts discussed, exploring any opinions they have.  The children are given opportunities to pose their own questions and debate their ideas. 

Rich task are used to deepen understanding and pupils are exposed to a range of stories, artefacts and visits to support with this.  We use our local proximity to St Lawrence Church to aid with this, each year group visits the church as part of an RE lesson each year as well as attending our weekly Collective Worship in the church which is conducted by leaders from the local Christian denominations. In addition to this, Years 2, 3 and 5 also visit the place of worship linked to their alternative religion study.  Our RE curriculum is supported by our daily Collective Worships which are often lead and assisted by each classes Collective Worship Crusaders.  Year 6 also have the privilege of attending Winchester Cathedral each year as part of their leaver’s service and becoming Church Council members, collaborating with other local Church of England schools to share ideas.

Impact:

During their time at St Lawrence, we believe our RE curriculum deepens pupil’s knowledge while making them empathetic and thoughtful members of our community. We use ‘I wonder…’ questions to assess each unit of work which allows children the opportunity to share their thoughts and views regarding the topics they have learnt. This enables teachers to address any misconceptions while supporting the children with their learning. This supports our children in being passionate about Religious Education, speaking eloquently about their own beliefs while respecting those of others and teaching them what links them to their local community and the wider world.

Parents do, however, have the right to withdraw their child from the whole or part of the R.E. curriculum. Any parent requiring further information or wishing to withdraw their child should contact the Head teacher.