Religious Education

Religious Education

What is RE?

RE explores big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live. RE helps pupils to make sense of religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.

How does RE link to our school vision?

As a school we want staff and pupils to spur each other on with love to be the best that they can be within every area of the curriculum.  Within Religious Education this means encouraging each other to ask big questions, aspiring to grow in knowledge about what people believe and how this makes a difference to how they live their lives.

What does our RE Curriculum look like?

At Bickleigh Down C of E Primary School we follow the Devon locally agreed syllabus that includes the Understanding Christianity materials.  Our curriculum is mapped out in the following way:

RE Events

The children in our school take part in a range of events and learning opportunities that link to their work in Religious Education.  Here you will find updates, examples of work and photos of these events.

Holocaust Memorial Flames Exhibition 

Our school was invited to take part in the Holocaust Memorial flames Exhibition at Plymouth Guildhall in January 2020.  Year 6 worked in class to find out about the Holocaust and Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD).  They used their knowledge of this to design and create a memorial flame to represent 75 years since the liberation of the concentration camps.  The children's flame featured 75 smaller flames to represent each of the 75 years.  Some representatives from Year 6 took the flame to Plymouth's Guildhall and shared their learning with the Lord Mayor, Richard Ball.

A Visit From Goldsmiths University

Adam Dinham and Martha Shaw came to visit our school to find out about our RE lessons.  They watched a lesson in Year 5 where the children were finding out about religion and science.  The children shared their knowledge of different theological ideas linked to the Christian view of the creation story.  They then asked their questions to a panel which was made up of Jonathan Marshall (a Buddhist), Karl Freeman (a vicar) and Katie (from Christians in science).  All our visitors were really impressed with the children's knowledge and our pupils found the discussions fascinating.

Remembering Solly Irving 

As a follow up to their work finding out about the Holocaust, Year 6 had a visit from Jonathan Marshall.  Jonathan who works for Plymouth Centre for Faiths and Cultural Diversity told the children about his friend Solly Irving who was a Holocaust survivor.  Jonathan told Solly's story to Year 6 and talked to them about how Solly felt he was destined to survive.  At the end of the session he answered the children's questions and talked to them about the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day.