Religious Education
At Netherfield, we use The East Sussex Agreed Syllabus 2022 when teaching Religious Education. This asserts the importance and value of Religious Education for all pupils, with on-going benefits for an open, articulate and understanding society.
The principal aim of religious education is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.
RE is for all pupils. Every pupil has an entitlement to Religious Education. RE is a necessary part of a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’ and must be provided for all registered pupils. RE is plural. The RE curriculum reflects the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.
Right of Withdrawal
This was first granted when RE was actually religious instruction and carried with it connotations of induction into the Christian faith. RE is very different now – open, broad, exploring a range of religious and non-religious worldviews. However, parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons or any part of the RE curriculum. When this happens, the school has a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra cost.
Where the pupil has been withdrawn, the law provides for alternative arrangements to be made for RE of the kind the parents want the pupil to receive. These arrangements will be made by the parents; the school is not expected to make these arrangements.