At Irby Primary school we aim to deliver a rich and exciting curriculum where all children will have the opportunity to investigate and reflect on the fundamental questions in life.
We encourage children to reflect on their own experiences and to develop a personal response to these questions. We want them to understand how the values and beliefs of different people and communities shape our modern world. We believe it is a fundamental part of our children’s education to explore the religions of the world in a vibrant and dynamic way. We want our children to have respect for other people and celebrate diversity through understanding similarities and respecting differences.
We follow the 2019 Wirral Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education and Worldviews, which aims to enable all children to learn about religion in order to learn from religion. Therefore we encourage enquiry based learning and cross-curricular links wherever possible.
We work in partnership with local community groups and places of worship to give our children first hand experiences that will enhance their understanding of the world we live in and promote respect for others. Here are some examples of what we do throughout the year and what RE looks like at Irby Primary School:
- Visits to places of worship.
- Interfaith weeks
- Visitors from different faith groups leading assemblies and workshops.
- The whole school visits our local Anglican Church, St Chad’s, annually for our Christmas Carol Service. The minister from St Chad’s occasionally leads assemblies and when invited by a class teacher supports an RE lesson with a specific topic. She also runs the transition workshop “It’s Your Move’ for our Year Six pupils in the Summer Term.
- Annual visits to our local Methodist Church to meet the characters from Bible stories through drama, song and craft.
- Assemblies that include stories and festivals from different religions and non-religious traditions to promote values or a moral message.
The impact of our RAW curriculum is seen in pupils who are enthusiastic, curious learners, ready to explore the ultimate questions of beliefs and values in today’s world. Children develop the skills to reflect thoughtfully on questions of meaning, confidently share their own opinions, and listen respectfully to the views of others. They gain a growing knowledge of world religions and secular worldviews, alongside an understanding of religious symbolism and a rich religious vocabulary, all of which support their learning and personal growth.
As a result, they make sustained progress over time, achieving well in line with curriculum expectations. By the end of their primary education, pupils are well prepared to continue their study of RE at secondary level and to engage positively with the diverse beliefs and values of modern society.
Right to withdraw
In the UK, parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from Religious Education
(RE) at any time. If you wish to do so, please contact the school office to inform us of your
decision.
The Golden Threads For RE At Irby Are
- Belief
- Belonging
- Festival
- Celebration
- Identity
- Pilgrimage/journeys
- Prayer/worship
- Symbolism
Six Big Ideas for Religious Education
Big Idea 1: Continuity, Change and Diversity
Religions and non-religious worldviews involve interconnected patterns of beliefs, practices and values. They are also highly diverse and change in response to new situations and challenges. These patterns of diversity and change can be the cause of debate, tension and conflict or result in new, creative developments.
Big Idea 2: Words and Beyond
Many people find it difficult to express their deepest beliefs, feelings, emotions and religious experiences using everyday language. Instead, they may use a variety of different approaches including figurative language and a range of literary genres. In addition, people use non-verbal forms of communication such as art, music, drama and dance that seek to explain or illustrate religious or non-religious ideas or experiences. There are different ways of interpreting both verbal and non-verbal forms of expression, often depending on a person’s view of the origin or inspiration behind them. The use of some non-verbal forms of communication is highly controversial within some religious groups, particularly their use in worship or ritual.
Big Idea 3: A Good Life
Many religions and non-religious communities strive to live according to what they understand as a good life. Their members share an understanding as to the sort of characteristics and behaviours a good person will seek to achieve, as well as dealing with what is, or is not, acceptable moral behaviour. People have different ideas about how and why we should lead a good life. The ideal is usually presented in the lives and character of exemplary members. There may be considerable agreement across different religions and non-religious worldviews on some matters, and considerable differences on others. Also, there are often major disagreements over the interpretation and application of moral principles between members of the same religion or worldview.
Big Idea 4: Making Sense of Life’s Experiences
Many people have deeply felt experiences, which they may refer to as being religious or spiritual or simply part of what it means to be human. These experiences may result in people undergoing transformative change and on rare occasions the experience of a single person has led to the formation of a new religion or worldview. Through religious rituals and other practices, people sometimes experience a deep connection with God or gods, nature, their own consciousness or with each other. This can give them a heightened sense of awareness and mystery. Many people find that belonging to religious or non-religious groups with others who share their beliefs, values and traditions gives them a sense of identity and belonging.
Big Idea 5: Influence, Community, Culture, and Power
Religious and non-religious worldviews interact with wider communities and cultures. They affect the way communities have come to identify themselves over time by shaping their traditions, laws, political systems, festivals, values, rituals and the arts. The patterns of influence vary significantly in different communities and at different points in time. Some communities are influenced predominantly by one religion. More diverse and plural communities are influenced by several religious and non-religious worldviews. Their appeal to a highly respected authority or vision, whether religious or non-religious can lead them to make positive and life-changing contributions to their communities. It can also give them considerable power, which may lead to both positive and negative outcomes.
Big Idea 6: The Big Picture
Religions and non-religious worldviews provide comprehensive accounts of how and why the world is as it is. These accounts are sometimes called ‘grand narratives’. They seek to answer the big questions about the universe and the nature of humanity such as ‘Does anything exist beyond the natural world?’, ‘Is there life beyond death?’, ‘What is the path to salvation?’ and ‘Do we have one physical life or many?’. These narratives are usually based on approaches to life, texts or traditions, which are taken to be authoritative. People interpret and understand these traditions in different ways.