RE at All Saints
Intent
At All Saints CE Primary and Nursery CE Primary School, we believe that it is important for all our pupils to learn from and about religion, so they can understand the world around them.
The Ofsted Research Review (May 2021) states, ‘RE in Primary and Secondary schools enables pupils to take their place within a diverse, multi religious, multi secular society.’
The aim of our RE in school is to ensure pupils can make sense of a range of religious and non - religious beliefs, understand the impact and significance of religious and non - religious beliefs and to make connections between religious and non – religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied.
The Agreed Syllabus for RE in East Sussex, ‘Faith and Belief in the 21st Century,’ (2022 – 27) directly links to our aims at All Saints, when it says,
‘The principal aim of religious education is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.’
Our curriculum is designed to encourage creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, discussion and independence. Our curriculum allows our pupils to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and enhances their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Click on the link below to access the East Sussex Locally Agreed Syllabus, 'Faith and Belief in the 21st Century.'
Implementation
At All Saints, we use the Agreed Syllabus for RE in East Sussex, ‘Faith and Belief in the 21st Century,’ (2022-27) as the basis for our curriculum. It has been agreed that having taken into account the requirements and guidelines presented in the Agreed Syllabus, the pupils will study in depth the religious traditions of the following:
EYFS: Christians and other faiths, as part of a growing sense of self, their own community and their place within it.
Key stage One: Christians, Jews, Muslims.
Key stage Two: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus.
SEN: Christians and other faiths, as part of a growing sense of self, their own community and place within it.
All pupils will also encounter other religions and non - religious views as part of their thematic unit studies and when appropriate to our school’s context.
RE is taught at All Saints for at least 5% of curriculum time, which is focused on teaching faiths in depth rather than breadth. To allows for depth, one religion is taught at a time as ‘systematic’ units. Flexible thematic units then allow us to draw on different traditions in our community and wider society, make links and make comparisons and ask ‘big’ questions.
During curriculum time we use the teaching and learning approach that is outlined in the Locally Agreed Syllabus to reflect our intent. This approach is used alongside the units of study that offer content and ideas to enable children to achieve our aims:
(‘Faith and Belief in the 21st Century,’ The Agreed Syllabus for RE in East Sussex 2022-27)
Every year group in Keystage One and Two have a floor book, which they use to record RE learning. This will include a weekly entry which may use examples such as, photographs, child’s voice, extended writing and creative activities. The EYFS and SEN unit will include learning in RE as part of their general floor book entries when significant learning needs to be recorded.
Click on the links below to look at our RE overview and skills progression documents:
Impact
The children at All Saints enjoy learning about other religions and why people choose, or choose not to follow a religion. Through their RE learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in the community and wider world; develop an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life; extend their knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs; develop a religious vocabulary and interpret religious symbols in a variety of forms; reflect on questions 
of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular world – views and explore ultimate questions of beliefs and values in relation to a range of contemporary issues in an ever – changing society.
Click on the link below to see some examples of RE work at All Saints:
Withdrawal from RE
Parents have a statutory right to withdraw a child from religious education. This right of withdrawal exists for all pupils in all types of school, including schools with and without a religious designation. If a parent is considering withdrawal from RE, we will listen to their concerns, inviting them to do so with the head teacher or other representative of the school. We work hard to ensure that any reservations or doubts may be accommodated to avoid withdrawal but recognise that a parent has this right if reservations cannot be resolved. Any formal decision to withdraw should be made in writing to the head teacher. We will ask parents if they wish to continue the withdrawal each year.
If a pupil is withdrawn, the school has a duty of care to look after the pupil, but not to provide alternative education. Any arrangements made must not incur extra cost for the school or the local authority.
