Belvedere Infant School

Religious Education

We are required, by law, to teach  Religious Education.

Overview

Teaching RE is part of our duty to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils, enabling pupils to appreciate the values and attitudes of different faith groups and the effects that these have on the community. Pupils are given an awareness, knowledge and understanding of the features, ideas and practices of the focused religions, encouraging sensitivity to the differences of faiths and fostering an atmosphere of acceptance, tolerance and goodwill to others in all aspects of life. An attitude of respect towards others and willingness to ask questions are, we believe, more important than a detailed knowledge of every practice

Religious Education (RE) enables children to investigate and reflect on some of the most fundamental questions asked by people. At Belvedere Infant School we develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths. We enable children to develop a sound knowledge not only of Christianity but also of other world religions, especially those that are the main faiths of children and staff within our school. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. We help the children learn from religions as well as about religions. 

Our teaching and learning styles in RE enable children to build on their own experiences and extend their knowledge and understanding of religious traditions and to  develop an understanding and acceptance that we can have differing beliefs but still be able to live in harmony with others. We aim to invite people of different faiths or parents into school to talk to the children about special events / celebrations within their religion, as well as visit local places of worship.

At Belvedere Infant School we follow the London Borough of Bexley Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education.

Children learn about the following world religions:

• Christianity
• Judaism 
• Islam

In Reception and Key stage 1 we will be making visits to our local church and Gurdwara to explore and discover similarities and differences between places of worship belonging to different faiths.