The school follows the Barking and Dagenham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education – ‘Exploring Beliefs, Celebrating Diversity’. RE is taught discretely to deepen the understanding of religions where we can learn from or learn about certain people, places, religious books and artefacts.
Our curriculum promotes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our pupils and reflects religious traditions in Great Britain – with a focus on Christianity whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of other principal religions represented in Great Britain and our school community. As part of our children’s SMSC and BV experience, we spend time celebrating cultural diversity in our annual Culture Day, in which children learn about other faiths and cultures within our school and wider community. During this time, visitors (including parents) are invited in to share their beliefs and traditions. We embrace the wider community through links with the local church and other religious places in order to further enrich and enhance our RE curriculum.
At James Cambell Primary School, we aim to ensure that children are able to express themselves by understanding different religious cultures and messages in stories as well as understanding specific vocabulary related to a particular religion. Through this, children know about and develop an understanding of a range of religions to ensure they can describe, explain and analyse beliefs and practises, recognising the diversity which exists within and between communities and amongst individuals. Through this subject we enable children to express ideas and gain insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews to enable them to express with increasing discernment their personal reflections and critical responses to questions and teachings about identity, diversity, meaning and value including ethical issues.
Parents who wish to withdraw their children from all or part of the RE curriculum have a right to do so. If a parent is considering withdrawal, the school would welcome the opportunity to first discuss the aims and coverage of the RE curriculum, and answer any questions.
Please note the following limitations to withdrawal from the RE curriculum:
If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching nor to incur extra cost. A pupil may be required to work in another area of the school, such as a different class.
Whilst parents or carers have a right to withdraw children from RE, they should note that children may also encounter religions and beliefs and wider aspects of faith in other areas of the curriculum from which there is no right of withdrawal.
On occasion, spontaneous questions about religious matters are raised by pupils or issues related to religion arise in other curriculum subjects such as history or citizenship (PSHE). For example, we promote community cohesion and help pupils to understand ideas about identity and diversity, feelings and emotions within both religious and non-religious contexts.
A request to withdraw a child from RE can be rescinded by the parent at any time.