RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
POLICY
Policy version control sheet
Document Status
Policy Number
Under review
Version Number
Date of Policy
July 2014
Next review date
July/August 2016
Name of originator
Approved by
Date of approval
Target Audience
Staff
Referring authorities
Parents and carers
Regulatory bodies
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1 The aims of Religious Education
1.1
Religious Education helps children to be appreciative of the diversity of religions in our
society and the world at large.
1.2
Religious Education aims at spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development
and prepares pupils for a future in society by:
 Focus on pupils as whole beings.
 Focus on building society.
 Learning about religious traditions.
 Learning from religions.
1.3
The implementation of these Aims within the Context of our School Staff should
endeavour to:
 Relate positively to the religious diversity of British society and world
community.
 Promote positive attitudes towards different religions by arranging contact with
other congregations and presenting examples of different faith outlooks.
 Ensure that we value all faiths equally.
1.4
Strategies to Integrate Religious Education into a Whole School Approach
 Foster the individual religious observances of our pupils by a calendar of
events.
 Observe a range of religious festivals and observances on a two yearly cycle
that emphasize positive aspects of other religions. Not all religions on that
year’s cycle will be covered, therefore giving scope for religions to be selected
each year depending on suitability. Long term pupils may recover festivals that
are difficult to grasp on the alternate years or may be introduced to new ones
from that cycle.
 Introduce reading and media that broaden horizons.
 Introduce people of other religious groups.
 Visits to places of worship and discussing faiths and customs.
 Guest speakers from other religions.
2 Focus on pupils as whole beings
2.1
In order to develop the whole child as a spiritual, moral, social and cultured being, the
pupils need:
 to appreciate religion in socially constructive ways.
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to be challenged intellectually.
to have their feelings deepened.
to be encouraged to act responsibly.
3 Focus on building society
3.1
In order to develop and build society, the Religious Education curriculum requires an
approach in which teachers, pupils and school communities are:
 working in partnership with parent’s faith communities and the wider society.
 responsive to the values, freedoms and creative needs of people living in
Somerset and elsewhere.
 cultivating social cohesion and solidarity, and creating social capital in Chard
and the home environment of our boarding pupils.
3.2
The aims of this syllabus are to be pursued by working towards two attainment targets,
which require the development of pupil dispositions, by deploying the resources found
within Christianity and the traditions of other religions. It is intended that by these
means children will be prepared to live, flourish and work in a global community and
that Chard and the pupils home environments will become an enriched and more
harmonious society4.
4 Learning about religious traditions
4.1
Pupils will be offered a holistic view of religious traditions, their beliefs, their
expressions, and their practical actions. Thus pupils should be helped to develop their
knowledge, their affections, their dispositions, their skills and relationships with others
in society by:
 Bringing to mind and learning about key religious practices and beliefs, sacred
writings, persons and institutions.
 Bringing to mind and learning about significant religious stories, narratives,
events, and places.
 Exploring culturally important, and widely valued, religious expressions e.g. in
art, music, literature, film, artefacts, architecture, dance, commemorations,
scientific and business activities.
 Engaging with religious aspirations and commitments to personal and social
well-being, and practical religious involvement in socio-political life.
 Understanding and properly applying religious language and concepts.
 Entering into serious dialogue with others and learning how faith traditions have
encountered and engaged with each other.
4.2
In so doing pupils will have dealt with the key areas of religious life: religious practices,
beliefs, sacred writings, figures, institutions, cultural expressions, events, actions,
ethics and experience.
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5 Learning from Religions
5.1
This religious education will:
 be cognitive [to do with knowing],
 be affective [to do with feelings], and
 have conative [to do with willing] dimensions,
 develop abilities/skills
 consider the social outcomes of teaching and learning on interpersonal
relationships and social institutions.*
5.2
What pupils learn from faith will always be correlated with selected resources from
religious traditions so that they will also gain a significant degree of knowledge and
understanding of them. Society will be developed if schools regularly liaise and work
with parents and religious communities to secure important social values.
5.3
The dispositions of pupils will be developed using a treasury of faith. Drawing on the
beliefs, expressions and practical actions of religious traditions, pupils should grow
intellectually, affectively/emotionally, and practically by being enabled to:
1. cognitive
 Consider reflectively and actively matters that relate to the fundamental
sense, purpose and meaning of life.
 Give close attention to what religious traditions treasure as inspiring, good,
beautiful, true, and sacred.
 Develop religiously informed judgement.
2. conative
 Discern and cultivate widely recognised values and virtues, such as, honesty,
integrity, and courage.
 Personally deploy religiously informed dispositions, including selflessness,
concern for others, and altruism.
3. skills oriented
 Deploy and enhance skills to engage sensitively and empathetically with the
richness and the challenges of diversity in the modern world.
4. affective
 Express and respond to shared human experiences, such as, joy,
thankfulness, grief, hope, pity, care and humility.
 Express any personal spiritual and/or religious affections in words or other
media.
5. with a social focus
 Value and use religious insights, and as a critical friend, to sustain key social
institutions. These include: the family, voluntary organisations, religious
communities, public bodies, the rule of law and democratic processes.
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