Our Philosophy:

In Brighton Avenue Primary School, we believe that it is important for all of our children to learn from and about religion/beliefs and ways of life, so that they can better understand the world around them. At our school, we value RE because it promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of our children at the school and of society. It prepares our children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life and promotes community cohesion. In line with British Values, we place respect and acceptance at the forefront of delivering the Religious Education curriculum. We seek to let children of different faiths be the experts on the subject and where appropriate, present different parts of sessions. This affords the child the opportunity to ‘be the teacher’ and embed their understanding through responding to questions with the support of staff. Other children enjoy being taught by their peers, and this creates a language and conversational rich learning environment. Visitors to the school are also prevalent, particularly community links with local Churches (Durham Cathedral, St George’s)  Mosques (Newcastle Central Mosque) and the parents of our pupils, who help to give us an insight into how different religions are practiced, whilst living in modern Britain and attending a mainstream school such as ours. Parents are invited into school during multicultural week to give our children an insight into how other faiths are practiced at home. We have links with the Sikh, Tamil, Jewish and Muslim community and visits to school are actively encouraged and organised. Educational visits are undertaken to enhance our curriculum and we are always looking to forge new links outside of the school environment.

Our Aims:

The principals of teaching  Religious Education are consistent with our school philosophy and take into account the National Curriculum Guidance for RE and the Gateshead Agreed Syllabus. (See RE Policy for further information).

Principals of Teaching Religious Education:

• To ensure that children of all faiths feel valued in our diverse school
• To nurture a diverse, happy school community
• To give children the opportunity to learn about their peers' religion and beliefs of others
• To encourage children to form their own ideas and opinions, based on what they have learnt
• To allow children to voice their ideas and opinions based on informed thinking
• To ensure that acceptance of others' beliefs is part of our core teaching
• To build upon prior knowledge using the power of 3
• To provide educational visits/visitors so that children's knowledge is expanded beyond the boundaries of school
• To ensure that children learn through a wide range of activities including, reading, computing, history, geography, science PHSE&C and the arts
• To ensure that staff and children make effective links between other subjects e.g. history and Judaism, science and the creation story
• To give children the knowledge to be able to compare and contrast

Harvest Festival 2025

Thank you for all of your kind donations during our Harvest Festival celebrations. Gateshead Food Bank were very grateful to receive so much from you all. 

Our RE learning at Brighton Avenue 

Autumn 2025 - 2026

Key Stage One

Our focus in Autumn term in Key Stage one was Christianity. Children in Year 1 have explored how Christians believe the world was created, and how they believe God sees humans as unique and precious. Year 2 children have built upon their learning in Year 1 by exploring what Christians believe God is like. Children loved having a visit from Eve, the Children's Pastor at Alive Church, who helped the children to think about the theme of how Christians view God, and how they believe he views them.

Year 3

Year 3 spent time exploring Hinduism in Autumn 1, with a focus on who Hindus worship. They learnt about the Trimurti, who Braham and Atman are, and looked into which other figures Hindus worship.

In Autumn 2 Year 3 have been learning about the Trinity in Christianity, looking into what symbols are used, what water represents in the Christian faith, and the importance of the Trinity in Baptisms in the Christian faith. 

Year 4

Year 4 started their year thinking about what the followers of Hinduism believe. They visited a Hindu Temple, learned about avatars in the Hindu faith, explored the messages that can be found in the Ramayana story, and thought about why the Mahabharata is important to Hindus. 

Year 5

Year 5 have taken a deep dive into the themes of Religion vs Science - do the two concepts contradict each other, or are they able to compliment each other? 

Year 6

Year 6 have spent time exploring Hinduism, and some of the key events, festivals and ideas within the Hindu religion. They have used their learning from previous years to think more deeply about the religion of Hinduism, exploring the concept of Karma, thinking about why many Hindus choose not to eat meat, and how the Samskaras provide a framework for life as a Hindu. 

In Autumn 2 Year 6 have explored why Christians believe that the world needed a saviour, whether Jesus was the messiah that they believe that people had hoped for, and what Mary and Joseph thought. The children did brilliantly at 'hot seating' as Mary and Joseph, acting as the characters and giving what they believe their thoughts would have been at the time.