Why we teach Religious Education

At St Anne’s Infant School we strongly believe that Religious Education plays a vital role for children understanding our ever changing world.  We recognise the importance of all children learning about religion and from religion.  We are committed to equipping them with the knowledge and understanding of a range of faiths and world views in local, national and global contexts enabling them to develop their own ideas, values and identities.  

Through adventurous, high quality, collaborative learning experiences, we aim to engage children through enquiry led learning, exploring big questions about life, finding out what people believe and the difference this makes to how they live.  Our children develop tolerance and respect for each others faiths, beliefs and cultures in our interesting, diverse society.

The knowledge, skills and understanding children develop

In our Early Years provision, children begin to explore and learn about the practises and beliefs of people within Christian and Muslim cultures, as part of their growing sense of self, their own community and their place within it.   Children learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and are provided with opportunities to develop their communication and language skills through both adult – led and child – initiated activities.

In Key Stage One, children learn about Judaism and deepen their understanding of Christianity and Islamic traditions and are encouraged to ask questions and begin to express their own views, using key vocabulary. Within the strands of believing, expressing and living, children learn the importance of values, truth, identity and diversity.  Children benefit from every opportunity taken to practise and apply their reading, writing and maths skills within the Religious Education curriculum.

The learning experience

With an overarching ‘big question’, children engage in a hands-on, explorative quest to learn about the beliefs and practices of different faiths and begin to form their own response.  We aim to foster children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness as they are immersed in vocabulary rich experiences through art, drama, storytelling and the investigating of religious artefacts. We recognise the importance of children having the opportunity to visit places of worship and to experience religion in the real world. Visitors from a range of faiths enrich our learning and understanding of how other people’s beliefs may shape their lives. Our children become confident, resilient, reflective and morally aware learners who have an increased understanding of the contribution they can make in shaping modern Britain. Throughout the year, we take the opportunity to explore special celebrations and traditions within our school community and enjoy events such as World Food Day, Harvest Festival, Holi and Eid.