Our Vision for RE Learning at Burlington
Our aim for RE is to promote respect and open-mindedness towards others with different faiths and beliefs. We explore what people believe and the difference this makes to how they live. Diversity and individuality are celebrated; children are encouraged to express their beliefs, cultural practices and give good reasons for their views so that they have the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised.
RE Curriculum Overview
Religious Education at Burlington allows children to share their experiences and learn from one another as well as the religions and beliefs represented across our school. We aim to support children to develop positive attitudes of respect towards people of all faiths and none and to develop religious literacy, so they may speak about religion and belief in informed and respectful ways. At Burlington, we follow The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames Agreed syllabus for RE 2018-2023. The agreed syllabus (linked below) sets out the statutory requirements for schools in Kingston.
In Early Years (Nursery and Reception), we create an environment in which children can appreciate that everyone is equal, where diversity is celebrated and that they can understand that everyone’s needs should be treated fairly and equally. There is a big emphasis on responding to the children’s growing sense of personal identity and their own beliefs through expressive arts eg song, music, dance and art. RE at Burlington sits very firmly within the areas of personal, social and emotional development and understanding the world.
Our RE framework enables children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others, and to learn how to form positive and respectful relationships. At Burlington, they will do this through a balance of guided, planned teaching and pursuing their own learning within an enabling environment. They will begin to understand and value the differences of individuals and groups within our school and their immediate community. Children will encounter Christianity and other faiths, as part of their growing sense of self, their own community and their place within it.
In Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), children at Burlington are taught knowledge, skills and understanding through learning about Christians, Muslims and Jews. We also encounter other religions and worldviews in thematic units, and celebrate other religious festivals throughout the school year. The principal aim of religious education is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that our children 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.
News and Events
RE Experts
At Burlington we are very proud of our diverse community. This Autumn term we will be looking at religious festivals such as Diwali, Mawlid an Nabi, Hanukkah (Chanukah), Bodhi Day and Christmas. We know that many families will be celebrating a variety of different religious festivals throughout Autumn term. We would love the children to share their news and personal experiences of how they enjoyed the special religious occasion with their family and friends. We are inviting the children to bring things in from home to show and tell with their class. This could be artefacts such as special story books, special photos, special clothes, a piece of music/food and some helpful written notes of information about the artefacts/festival. Remember: Photos and videos can also be uploaded to share via Tapestry.
If you’re a parent and you would like to volunteer to come into school to talk to your child's class about festivals, we would love to hear from you. Please let your class teacher know.
Multicultural Day - October 2022
We believe one of the best things about Burlington is the wide range of cultures represented in our children, parents and staff. Did you know that there are 31 different languages spoken amongst the children and their families at our school! We launched our inaugral Multicultural Day this October to celebrate and show off this amazing diversity with a full day of celebrations. The children all looked amazing in their cultural clothes which were shown in a whole school assemnly parade. The children loved sharing their home experiences talking about their families, special celebrations, languages they speak and religions. We tried lots of yummy food from around the world. Thank you so much for all the lovely food and to all the parents that helped.
Photos from Multicultural Day
Celebrating Festivals - Diwali
In October 2022, the children learnt all about the Hindu and Sikh festival of Diwali - the festival of lights. We had some very exciting visitors called Earth Song who came to tell the children all about the Diwali story of Rama and Sita. The children really got into character when retelling the story through movement and dance. The children participated in lots of engaging Diwali learning activities in their classrooms, such as making divas from clay and making rangoli patterns using collage materials.
Big Questions
Each term, children reflect on their learning by thinking about our 'big questions'. For example in Reception, children consider what makes them special and unique. In Year 1 have been understanding what it means to be part of a faith community.
Around the World Week
In May we enjoyed our annual Around the World Week at Burlington - it was a great success! Each class focused on a country of choice and made a snack/dish that originated from this country. The children learnt key facts about that country and had such fun researching and finding out new things. We were also so lucky to have parents who posted videos telling the children about their own cultures. The children were delighted to watch these and found them so interesting and informative.
Earthsong came to visit our school and brought with them instruments from around the world and a huge number of drums of different shapes and sizes. All classes had an Earthsong session and learnt about the different instruments, which country they come from and what they sound like. All children took part in a drumming workshop at the end of the session. This was very noisy but so much fun.
The week concluded with a cultural dress up day which saw children wearing cultural dress from a very wide range of countries. This made for a wonderful and very colourful end to what was a fantastic week!
Photos from Around the World Week
How to Help at Home
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Discussing the different beliefs of family and friends
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Visiting places of worship when on holiday
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Encourage your child to talk about their views and opinions