Religious Education
At Harris Primary Philip Lane, we follow a syllabus called AMV which is the agreed syllabus for all Haringey schools. AMV stands for ‘Awareness’ ‘Mystery’ and ‘Values,’ all of which are central components of the syllabus. This syllabus supports spiritual, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities of later life.
According the Education Act 1996 local authorities must ensure that the agreed R.E syllabus is required to reflect the religious traditions of Great Britain are in the main Christian while also taking account of the traditions and practices of other principal religious that are followed within Great Britain. We have used this guidance to split the AMV units of study between year groups to ensure that there is the correct coverage of principal religions at the appropriate key stage whilst also ensuring that a variety of topics are inclusive of all religions. At Harris Primary Philip Lane, we are proud to celebrate a rich and diverse community that showcases a variety of beliefs and like to make sure that children are exposed to a range of religious and non-religious teachings and traditions. We always encourage parents, families and carers to contribute to our celebrations and welcome feedback on how to continue to improve our multi-cultural and multi-faith representations. We showcase celebrations of many religious festivals throughout the year including but not limited to Harvest, Diwali, Eid, Christmas and Easter.
Our R.E lessons are designed to allow pupils to develop a positive attitude towards others and respect the beliefs and values of their peers. The lessons are based on acquiring and understanding the influence of Christianity and other principal religions, being able to pose and answer questions that enhance their spiritual, moral, cultural and social development. We use a variety of multimedia sources to reflect modern day religious life and give children a chance to explore how traditions and beliefs have been embedded in our society through history. We celebrate the diversity of both Great Britain and the local area and aim to show how the teachings and philosophies of religion can relate to pupils.
In key stage 1 there is a focus on Christianity, Islam and Judaism through units that allow for children to explore a topic based R.E curriculum. In Key stage 1 children will study units including ‘Why are some stories special?’, ‘Why is our world special?’, ‘How do we celebrate our journey through life?’ and ‘How should we live our lives?’. In Key stage 2 pupils will cover the same religions as well as Hinduism. They will follow a range of units including ‘How do children express their beliefs?’, ‘How should we live and who should inspire us?’, ‘How do we make moral choices?’ and ‘What do people believe about life?’. By approaching R.E through the AMV syllabus children are able to explore the different beliefs, texts, institutions and values that are central to all principal religions in Great Britain.
We believe that R.E plays a vital role in education by providing children with opportunities to discuss important questions about the purpose of life, belief in God, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. We also believe that children should be encouraged to learn from different religions, beliefs, values, and backgrounds. We also support the AMV syllabus’ ideology that pupils should be challenged to reflect, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, faith, belief and ethics.
