Religious Education (RE)

Religious Education (RE)

Religious Education should provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human, through knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principal religions.

Shiplake CE Primary is a Voluntary Aided Church school in the Diocese of Oxford.  We maintain very close links with the Shiplake Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Diocese and the local community.  The Christian ethos of the school encourages co-operation and caring throughout the school community.  The Christian and moral culture fostered by the school values mutual respect, self-discipline and good behaviour in all our pupils.  The school is a happy, friendly community and each child is encouraged to fulfil his or her own potential both academically and spiritually.

 

Legal Requirements

Religious Education must be provided for all registered pupils in full time education from Foundation Stage to Year 6, except those withdrawn at their parents’ request.  The governors at this school have decided that the R.E. taught at Shiplake must adhere to the Oxfordshire Agreed Syllabus 2023-2028.  The Syllabus reflects the requirements of the Education Acts of 1996, 1998 and 2002, in that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.

 

The Importance of Religious Education

Religious Education should provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human, through knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principal religions. Religious Education should challenge pupils to reflect, analyse and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses.  It should offer opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development and encourage pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging enabling them to flourish as individuals within the school as well as the wider community.  RE should play an important role in preparing pupils for adult life enabling them to develop respect and sensitivity to others particularly those who hold beliefs different from their own.

 

Religious Education Policy  (2020)