Other Faiths

 Every term as part of the curriculum we explore and celebrate the major world faiths as well as studying Catholicism.

Intent 

By teaching and exposing our children to other religions, we aim for pupils to acquire and develop knowledge about the other principal faiths in the world. These include: Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Christianity. It is our intent to provide enrichment opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. To give opportunities for pupils to reflect on and respond to the values, beliefs and practices of other religions and philosophies. To encourage pupils towards an understanding of people’s beliefs, values and practices, and to develop within pupils, respect and sensitivity towards other people and their beliefs and philosophies.

Implementation

At St Francis, we value the religious background of all members of our community and hope that this will encourage understanding and dialogue with others. All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we value the links which are and can be made between home, school and a faith community. We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils and help further embed the skills set in our Religious Education curriculum: knowledge and understanding, making links and reflection and evaluation. We promote teaching other faiths that stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children. Through creative and enriching lessons and experiences the children will confidently develop and apply their skills. Moreover, this will further support their moral development by learning about a specific aspect of a different faith each half term.

Impact
Pupil Voice indicates that children thoroughly enjoy learning about other faiths, particularly through special weeks. During these weeks, each year groups focus on a particular part of the chosen other faith, for example Year 2 focus on places of worship. This is then developed in each subsequent year which ensures pupils develop a secure understanding of the faith and others, making links with their own faith. By Upper KS2 the theme of their chosen faith leads to deep discussions and reflections. 

Hinduism - Oct 2022