Religious Education

Religious Education is an important part of the curriculum at Richmond Primary School, connecting well with 'Philosophy for Children' and 'No Outsiders'. We encourage the children to use their knowledge of different cultures, beliefs and values to think, reason, explain and explore ideas in a respectful way through discussion and debate.

One of the most important aspects of a successful RE education is being able to find out about not just the beliefs and traditions of different cultures and religions, but also compare them and to relate those beliefs to our own lives. Therefore, we do not encourage children to follow a religion or take part in religious activities, but instead to explore how those religious activities can be related to their own experiences, to help them to better understand the exciting diversity of the modern world. By linking everything we do to fundamental British Values, RE explores not how we are different, but how we are the same, in many ways.

In Early Years, we explore different festivals and celebrations such as Diwali, Christmas, Hannukah, Chinese New Year and Holi alongside the RE planning. For each of the world religions we focus on, children are taught to investigate, reflect, express, interpret and empathise in order to answer key questions. Children build their RE knowledge and skills over time and are given the opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs and values as individuals and to respect the beliefs of others.