"Religious education should enable pupils to consider and respond to important questions related to their own spiritual development, the development of values and attitudes and fundamental questions concerning the meaning and purpose of life." (QCA 1999)

Religious education can provide a rich and wide range of experiences inside and outside the classroom which give pupils opportunities to develop concepts and skills that will help them to make sense of their own experiences and beliefs, and to understand the beliefs and practices of members of faith communities.

"Indoctrination and conversion are not part of the educational process and therefore have no place in religious education. Religious education is an educational subject in its own right, taught within an educational framework." (Diocesan Guidelines 2000)

As North Lincolnshire has a comparatively limited ethnic mix, it is an important part of religious education to encourage tolerance and respect for other cultures and faiths.

Please click here to read about the legal requirements of a Religious Education course.

Aims

• To enable pupils to understand the nature of Christian beliefs and practices and the beliefs and practices of other world faiths; • To teach tolerance and challenge prejudice towards people of different faiths through providing opportunities to develop an understanding of the value of living in a multicultural, multi-faith and multi-lingual society; • To help pupils reflect upon their own needs, experiences and questions and to confront what are sometimes referred to as 'ultimate questions'; • To encourage pupils to develop open minds to new and different concepts and to form their own opinions based on evidence and argument; • To learn from religions in addition to gaining knowledge and understanding about religions.

In KS4 full course Religious Education also fulfils the majority of the requirements of the Citizenship course.

The Delivery of Religious Education

Religious Education is taught as a discrete subject in Key Stage 3.

In Years 7-11 classes are set according to ability. These sets are created in liaison with other subjects wherever possible (often either English or History and Geography). There is the opportunity for liaison and discussion between subjects at the start of the year and throughout the year between individual teachers, although movement is kept to a minimum.

In Year 9 halfway through the second term pupils are taught the first unit of the GCSE course as it also complies with the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus and the national framework. (Ultimate Questions Unit).

In Year 10 the majority of pupils study the full course GCSE (Edexcel - Religion and Life from a Christian perspective and religion and Society from a Christian and a Muslim perspective) and a small group study short course (Edexcel - Religion and Life from a Christian perspective).

Through the delivery of Religion and Society most of the Citizenship requirement is met in Key Stage 4.

Much time is spent on long, medium and short term planning. This includes precise methods of differentiation within each lesson and support for the teaching and learning process.

Skills and Attitudes in Religious Education

Skills in religious education are similar to those developed in other curriculum areas. The following list of skills is by no means exhaustive:

Investigative Skills
Those which relate to the acquisition of knowledge and understanding:

explaining situations looking for meanings raising questions assessing evidence analysing

hypothesising classifying observing recording evaluating

Reflective Skills
Those which are a response to experience, making a personal response to new ideas in relation to the young people's own beliefs and values:

stilling critically awareness of self and others reflecting on belief and experience

considering evidence developing a sense of wonder synthesising

Social Skills
Those which link to relationships with others:

relating to others expressing oneself recognising emotive language respecting other viewpoints discussing

listening co-operating being aware of others empathising

While the knowledge, skills and understanding are central to the national framework for religious education, it is also vital that religious education encourages pupils to develop positive attitudes to their learning and to the beliefs and values of others.

The following four attitudes are essential for good learning in religious education and should be developed at each key stage of religious education:

• self-awareness
• respect for all
• open-mindedness
• appreciation and wonder

Self-awareness in religious education includes pupils:

• feeling confident about their own beliefs and identity and sharing them without fear of embarrassment or ridicule
• developing a realistic and positive sense of their own religious, moral and spiritual ideas
• recognising their own uniqueness as human beings and affirming their self-worth
• becoming increasingly sensitive to the impact of their ideas and behaviour on other people.

Respect for all in religious education includes pupils:

• developing skills of listening and a willingness to learn from others, even when others' views are different from their own
• demonstrating consideration for others
• being ready to value difference and diversity for the common good
• appreciating that some beliefs are not inclusive and considering the issues that this raises for individuals and society
• being prepared to recognise and acknowledge their own bias
• being sensitive to the feelings and ideas of others
• developing an ability to empathise with others.

Open-mindedness in religious education includes pupils:

• being willing to learn and gain new understanding
• engaging in argument or disagreeing reasonably and respectfully (without belittling or abusing others) about religious, moral and spiritual questions
• being willing to go beyond surface impressions
• distinguishing between opinions, viewpoints and beliefs in connection with issues of conviction and faith.

Appreciation and wonder in religious education includes pupils:

• developing their imagination and curiosity
• recognising that knowledge is bounded by mystery
• appreciating the sense of wonder at the world in which they live
• developing a sense of responsibility to that which is local, national and global
• developing their capacity to respond to questions of meaning and purpose.
  Religious Education: The non-statutory national framework, QCA, London (2004)