A rounded understanding of major faiths and the confidence to explore their own personal beliefs provides our children with the skills and knowledge they need to become principled and respectful as adults. It also provides a huge range of opportunities to develop our learning powers, particularly curiosity, empathy and reflectiveness. To find out more about what we teach and how learnng fits together, take a look at our skills and knowledge progression:
We want our children to develop their individual knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs in order to become open, principled and respectful citizens in contemporary society. In order to do this, it is vital that our children build-up both a rounded understanding of major faiths and the confidence and curiosity needed to form their own personal opinions. To that end, we have built on the Hertfordshire Agreed Syllabus for RE to provide an education that reflects the beliefs and needs of our diverse community.
At Bedwell, children in every class are given opportunities to ask and answer provoking, challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. We want to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, of other principal religions, other religious traditions and worldviews that offer answers to questions such as these.
Our children also have opportunities for their own personal development and wellbeing, by being taught to have mutual respect and tolerance for the diverse society we live in. This is also reflected in other parts of the curriculum such as Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE), geography and history. Children are given opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development which allow them to deepen their understanding of the significance of religion in the lives of others – individually, communally and cross-culturally.
"Pastoral care for pupils and their families is strong. Pupils feel well cared for because leaders and staff go out of their way to help and support them."
Early Years - Nursery and Reception were keen to talk about the religions and celebrations that they shared across their classes. During the Autumn term they learnt about Diwali, Christmas and Hanukkah, along with Black History Month and Halloween.