Burnt Oak Junior School

At Burnt Oak we aim to celebrate diversity and offer a welcoming and inclusive environment for all our pupils, including new arrivals and non-native English speakers. Religious Education is taught weekly through the Bexley Agreed Syllabus, covering a wide range of topics and religions of the world.

Religious Education (RE) encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions while challenging and exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning and to develop their own sense of identity and belonging. It also enables them to respect the views of others that differ from their own and prepares them for living in a world and local community that is diverse in both culture and belief.  We believe that Religious Education provides an opportunity to celebrate and foster awareness of differences within our school and the wider world.  Pupils learn to communicate their knowledge and understanding using specialist vocabulary. It also includes identifying and developing an understanding of ultimate questions and ethical issues.

Through Religious Education children have the opportunity to develop many key skills such as thinking, researching, evaluating, reflecting and empathising.  Wherever possible, links are made between Religious Education and other curriculum subjects.

The Bexley Agreed Syllabus consists of three key areas of teaching:

• Believing- Religious beliefs, teachings, sources; questions about meaning, purpose and truth
• Expressing- Religious and spiritual forms of expression; questions about identity and diversity.
• Living- Religious practices and ways of living; questions about values and commitments.