At Shoreham Village School we maintain links with our village church at key times of the year in the Christian calendar e.g. Easter, Harvest and Christmas.  We endeavour to encourage pupils to begin to describe, compare and explain different religious beliefs and institutions. We look at a variety of different religions including:  Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism.  We aim for our pupils to develop an understanding of their own values and commitments to shape their identity and belonging. We want all pupils to appreciate and accept different beliefs, tradition and cultures that explain different ways of life.

RE is not part of the National Curriculum but the 1988 Education Act requires RE to be taught to every pupil registered in our school according to the locally agreed syllabus. RE provides, within the curriculum, a reminder that education concerns the whole person: body, mind and spirit and enables pupils to explore meaning and purpose in their lives.

The starting pint for our RE curriculum is the Kent Agreed Syllabus for RE, which is based on the teaching and practices of Christianity and other principal religions represented in Great Britain. Pupils study religious beliefs and moral teachings drawn from a variety of sources and have the opportunity to discuss and think about what people believe and how they behave.

Parents may request that their child be withdrawn from RE lessons. It is hoped however that parents who may have reservations about RE will discuss this with the Headteacher and consider our aims for teaching RE carefully before withdrawing their child.