World Faith & Philosophy (RE)

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Intent

The aim of World Faith and Philosophy is to promote reflection, empathy, comprehension and interpretation of world beliefs, mainly through the study of Christianity, but also Hinduism, Judaism, Humanism and Islam. World Faith and Philosophy aims to foster attitudes such as curiosity, open-mindedness, tolerance, wonder, appreciation, respect and self-understanding through the Hampshire ‘Living Difference IV’ syllabus.

The aim, through World Faith and Philosophy, is to introduce children and young people to what a religious way of looking at, and existing in, the world may offer in leading one’s life, individually and collectively and to play an educational part in the lives of children and young people as they come to speak, think and act in the world.

Implementation:

At Langrish we follow the 2021 syllabus from ‘The Living Difference IV’ which: “affirms our commitment to an education that takes seriously the importance of children exploring their own lives in relation to what it can mean to live with a religious orientation on life, as well as other ways of life including those informed by a non-religious perspective.” (Living Difference IV foreword).

We use this syllabus throughout the school and teach World Faith and Philosophy through concepts; these are divided into 3 interconnecting groups:

A concepts (common to all people, for example, remembering, specialness, celebration, rights, compassion, justice);

B concepts (shared by many religions, for example, God, worship, symbolism);

C concepts (distinctive to particular religions, for example, resurrection).

There are also ‘golden thread’ concepts : belonging, communicating, special and love, which are revisited throughout the key stages, each time gaining a greater depth of enquiry.

Click here to view Hampshire's 'Living Difference IV' syllabus that we use to deliver our World Faith and Philosophy curriculum.

At Langrish, World Faith and Philosophy (RE) is taught through a ‘cycle of enquiry’ and is concerned with exploring how beliefs and values impact on the way people behave and should encourage respect for others’ beliefs and values, irrespective of children’s own faith or those children who have no religious or faith experience: raising global awareness for all children and adding to their cultural capital. For this reason we, at Langrish, have named RE ‘World Faith and Philosophy’ to allow children to arrive at the subject without pre-conceptions.

Our long term plan:

Impact:

Religions in our school

Now that she is in Year 5, one of our pupils has begun to explore her religion further during Ramadan. Once the sun sets, Muslims break their fast with water or a date and then have a feast and make their traditional foods and eat whatever they want until sunrise. The process continues for about 29-30 days. She uses her prayer mat, pointing towards Mecca, during this time. She has already taken part in 3 of the 5 pillars of Islam, helping her to feel more connected to her religion.

Carol Service 2025

This year, we re-introduced our family carol service at St Peter's Church in Petersfield. It was great to be back in church with our junior choir singing some festive tunes, our Year 6 readers and family carol singing: a truly special occasion. After the service, we asked for optional donations to both the church and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, as voted for by the pupils, raising an incredible £222 for both these worthy causes.

UNCRC in WFaP

As always, the approach to RE in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton schools is consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), particularly Articles 8, 12, 13, 14, 29 and 30, and supports the work of Rights Respecting Education (RRE) at Langrish School.