We want children to enter the classroom eagerly anticipating the next step on a journey of discovery in Religious Studies.
Within the lessons the children have freedom to explore philosophy and ethics as well as religious texts. We feel that a wide and imaginative curriculum is advantageous to the children in an ever-changing world. We find that this approach helps to form a more rounded and better-prepared child for studies and life ahead.
In the nursery, we celebrate festivals, both religious and cultural, from around the world, as well as acting out and reading stories from the Bible.
We do this as part of Understanding the World, one of the four specific areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. We guide children to make sense of their physical world and community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology, and the environment.
During their time in the Pre-Prep, our children develop an understanding of the beliefs, values and traditions of different world religions, giving them a better understanding of the diverse world around us. Underlying this exploration is a focus on Biblical stories.
We encourage children to express and explore ideas and beliefs, through discussion, artefacts and story-telling.
Our curriculum has Biblical stories as the spine of the content and uses texts from many other religions. We aim to give children a detailed knowledge of religious and philosophical texts. We work to enable them to be able to express informed opinions on contemporary issues and understand moral implications of thoughts and actions. They should also have an understanding of the significance of the actions of famous religious leaders.
A typical unit of work will have a general theme such as ‘Peace and Conflict'. The approach of various religions to the theme is explored through historical events, texts and stories. A philosophical debate will be included around a significant question such as ‘can conflict ever be justified?’.
The curriculum is enriched with assemblies celebrating religious festivals, visits to places of worship and visits from inspirational speakers. This approach is adopted throughout the school as a stand-alone subject or integrated into topic work. Religious Studies links with social moral spiritual cultural programme SMSC throughout the school.
