Religious Education
Intent
As a Church of England school, Religious Education (RE) is a core subject at Limpsfield and the impact of this curriculum area runs deeply through our school, influencing the nature and ethos of our school community. As a distinctive Church of England school we want our children to be embrace diversity and inclusivity by learning not only about Christianity but other world religions.
Implementation
We follow the curriculum of the Southwark Diocese which is comprised of units teaching about Christianity and other world faiths such as Judaism and Islam. Units are revisited and built upon each year, ensuring coverage at deeper levels of detail and understanding as children move through the different year groups.
Our teaching of RE is underpinned by respect and value for those of Christian faith, of other faiths and of no faith, and we seek to educate our children so they are informed and equipped for life. Each year we celebrate Interfaith Week and invite visitors from different faiths into school so children can learn first hand about other religions. Similarly, we visit places of worship for other faith groups in order to broaden and deepen children’s understanding through hands-on experience and exploration.
We approach the teaching of RE through the two strands of learning about religion and learning from religion and we encourage children to develop skills of critical thinking, evaluation, empathy and questioning.
We have very close links with our Parish church of St Peter’s, Limpsfield and both the church and the church family are a rich resource for us. We visit the church regularly both for services and to study and explore the building, and we often welcome our vicar and other members of the church community into school to lead Collective Worship and to support and enhance our RE teaching.
We teach RE in a varied, cross-curricular manner, often delivering lessons through the vehicles of art, music, drama, philosophy for children and outdoor learning. We always aim to make lessons fun, exciting and relevant and to use RE to explore the fundamental questions of life.
Impact
Our children leave Limpsfield as reflective learners. They understand and respect people’s differences and diversity. The children can talk confidently about a range of religious beliefs and how these influence their own spiritual development.