Many religions have festivals they celebrate each year. You will learn about some of these in RE lessons as well as having assemblies and sometimes whole school activities that help us to understand the festivals more and why they are celebrated.

Here are some of the main festivals or celebrations that the religions we study have each year:

Religious Education at Sharmans Cross Junior School

Intent and Implementation

At Sharmans Cross Junior School, the Religious Education (RE) curriculum pupils receive is delivered using an enquiry process, set out by Discover RE. We follow the medium term plans outlined by Discovery RE for the units selected for each year group with Christianity being taught in every year group, in line with the ‘Solihull Agreed Syllabus’ and the core content units that are to be taught across Solihull.  Christmas and Easter are taught in each year group, building on the knowledge of the year and developing learning in a progressive way. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism are also covered. Through this curriculum, pupils gain both knowledge and understanding of world religions as well as learning how to show respect for and build bridges between: different beliefs and practices, people of different faiths and people with different life stances. RE teaching also contributes towards a child’s own spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC).

At Sharmans Cross, we believe the RE curriculum plays a vital role in equipping children with skills and knowledge of people and the world they live in, which is beneficial in later life. Through their enquiry, they develop an understanding of diverse cultures and traditions and have opportunities to express personal views, understanding the impact these may have on others. Through this, they build a sense of identity and belonging as an individual, within their communities and as part of humankind. The RE curriculum also provokes discussions related to challenging questions, such as exploring a belief in God and moral values inherent in sacred texts. Through using Discovery RE, children are afforded opportunities to deepen their critical thinking skills through greater subject knowledge and also to allow their own spiritual development.

Solihull Agreed Syllabus and Sharmans Cross

The Solihull Areed Syllabus states that the purpose of RE is to: ‘Provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, moral choices, and the spiritual dimensions of life and death.’

Discovery RE, with its enquiry model, is well suited to provide a framework to deliver this purpose. Each enquiry is centred around a key question, as suggested by the Solihull Agreed Syllabus.

RE provides a positive context for pupils within which the diversity of cultures, beliefs and values can be celebrated and explored. The Religious Education practices, teaching and opportunities provided for children:

• Provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, moral choices, and the spiritual dimensions of life and death. Develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of principal religions, other religions and worldviews.
• Enables each child to investigate their own religious belief system (or none) and those of others. They will learn to express personal views and develop an understanding of the impact these may have on others.
• Build a sense of identity and belonging as an individual, within communities and as part of humankind.
• Challenge prejudice, including that based on religious background, race, culture or gender and to show respect to all.
• Develop understanding of moral virtues such as truthfulness, honesty, empathy, generosity and compassion and explore how they can positively contribute to living within the local and global community.