“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” – Albert Einstein
“Together with science, the arts and humanities, religious education allows us to see inside ourselves, question our purpose and understand the wider world.” – Revd Nigel Genders
“in a world shaped by faith and where 80% of the population is motivated by faith, a good religious education enables children to become literate about belief and faith, confidently debating and questioning each other, learning to navigate modern Britain and the wider world with dignity and respect for their neighbours..” – NATRE
Minchinhampton Primary Academy Milestones – Religious Education RE on a page – Everything you need to know about RE at Minchinhampton Academy
Religious Education in Minchinhampton is therefore designed to allow children to explore the really big questions, such as “Who are we? and How should we live? We draw on our strong philosophical approach and traditions and encourage children to relate the sacred texts and teachings to the woven experience of their lives and culture, to see how faith has influenced our values, our heritage and our actions.
RE is an approach to life. It is about the philosophy of existence and a window into how different faiths perceive the world and how that inspires followers to act. A robust understanding of RE is therefore linked to our commitment for P4C and PSHE and the spiritual, moral and cultural education goals, but also enables pupils to look both deeper and broader than their own experience, enriching their thoughts with important extracts from sacred texts. When it is taught well and woven into different activities, children should not only achieve a deeper understanding of theirs and others’ actions, but understand the strength of those foundations for some. An understanding of different faiths and cultures is particularly important in a rural and mainly mono cultural school like Minchinhampton. Beyond that, RE should inspire children’s curiosity about the world, complementing the HOW of Science with the WHY of RE.
What our pupils say:
“The best thing about RE is learning about the Bible, about lots of different stories. It’s really interesting- I’d give it 8 or 9/10.”
“I did a collage of a harpy eagle—I had quite a bit of green in the body which represented deforestation and the loss of trees in the world, I had blue in it which represented the sea and the sky and then I had some purple on the tail which represented pollution and on the legs I had some red card which represented the blood of animals that have been killed by poachers.”
RE Exemplar, Big Questions in R.E. – March ’22 RE Exemplar – RE through Art