Intent

The vast majority of pupils that attend Stratton County Primary school, come from a broadly white, Christian heritage. However, the pupils are not immune from developments in and influences from a wider world, through family and personal contacts, the media, and from their education. 

It is a part of the aims of the school to offer a wide-ranging education, to prepare pupils for life not only in their own community but also in the national and global communities.   As the world appears to become ever more complex and challenging, it is important that pupils can be prepared for the world they will enter when they leave school.

The Cornwall Agreed syllabus 2020 states:

“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 “

We regard Religious Education as a very important area of our curriculum. Specific time is allocated for RE in the classroom and it is, in one sense, part of everything we do. The values we exhibit in school and our relationships with each other are very much included in Religious Education. We aim to provide the best possible Religious Education for every child within a caring community.

Implementation

RE will be provided through (one, two or all of these, or in combination): 

a)    Taught as one lesson a week dedicated to the delivery of RE as set out in each class’s timetable; 

b)    Taught as part of a wider topic focus involving the delivery of other subjects such as History, Geography, Art, Music or English, and; 

c)    Taught with occasional connections with the school’s programme of assemblies and collective worship (Open book assembly). Themes from these can then be followed up in the classroom or through an RE themed day. The scheme of work closely follows the Cornwall Council Agreed Syllabus 2020.

There will be opportunities for children to work individually, in groups and as a whole class. Recognition and use is made of children's different levels of ability, interest and experience. Tasks and activities are differentiated appropriately. Two thirds of the content of R.E. is Christianity.

Aspects of RE which are not necessarily planned for, will inevitably arise through children's daily experiences (e.g. peer group pressure, birth, death, local and world events, environmental issues etc.) Teachers will be aware and ready to recognise any 'spiritual' moment that can occur at any time.

Parents have a right to withdraw their child from RE in whole or in part, under section 71 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. If a parent wishes to withdraw their child they must write in the first instance to the Head Teacher who will then invite them in to see if it will be possible to keep them in RE and, if failing that, how the withdrawal will be managed. The School Standards and Framework Act sets out the options for parents and the school currently acts on the advice of Cornwall SACRE in this regard.  

Impact