Religious Education
Religious Education
Our Values in R.E.
Collaboration | Respect |
Working together in groups to explore things before we come up with ideas.
We try and think about the different religions people might follow and get them to talk to us about their beliefs, as well as having close links with the local churches. One of our school governors is a local vicar.
We have the opportunity to visit and explore different places of worship across a range of beliefs.
The work that we do builds from the work done at the Infant School. We use a spiral curriculum to revisit prior learning and experiences to build upon them. |
We expose ourselves to many different religions and point of view, this is important to give the children a wider view of the world and showing how diverse the UK is compared to Market Drayton.
Understanding that we all don’t share the same beliefs and values. Respecting the values, ideas and beliefs of others whilst not imposing our own others. For example: embracing diversity; the importance of religion, traditions, cultural heritage and preferences; tackling stereotyping, labelling, prejudice and discrimination.
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Aspirations | Positivity |
Protection of your rights and the right of others you work with. For example: Equality and human rights, personal development, respect and dignity rights, choice, consent and individuality values and principles.
Preparing our pupils to be well rounded tolerant citizens who have been exposed to many differing cultures and beliefs equipping them the understanding of others experiences in later life. |
All children are encouraged to participate in discussion.
RE is fun because we get exposed to new things!
When we get to return to the same topics previously covered, each time building on our knowledge and understanding.
We are accepting of other people’s beliefs. We learn that it is okay to have differing opinions around belief and ways of life and we adopt a positive attitude towards one-another. |
Intent - How have we designed our R.E. curriculum?
Our R.E. syllabus responds to national calls for deepening pupils’ knowledge about religions and for developing their ‘religious literacy’. It does this by studying one religion at a time (‘systematic’ units), and then including ‘thematic’ units, which build on learning by comparing the religions, beliefs and practices studied. The teaching and learning approach has three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs, underpinning the aims of RE.
Our teaching contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. They will be introduced to an extended range of sources and subject-specific vocabulary. Our teaching equips pupils with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and beliefs, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities. Pupils learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response and to agree or disagree respectfully. We enable pupils 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.
Children develop a sound knowledge not only of Christians but also of other religious groups, especially Muslims, Hindus, Jews and nonreligious groups.
Our teaching and learning styles in RE enable children to build on their own experiences and extend their knowledge and understanding of religious traditions and beliefs. We use their experiences at religious festivals such as Easter, Diwali, Passover etc. to develop their religious thinking.
Implementation - How do we deliver the R.E. curriculum?
In November 2021, Market Drayton Infant and Junior Schools, adopted the R.E. today SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education 2021-26) agreed syllabus. This works alongside the understanding Christianity planned units.
The R.E. curriculum sets out a clear breadth of what will be covered:
Long Term Curriculum Plan
| Unit 1 | Unit 2 | Unit 3 | Unit 4 | Unit 5 | Unit 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FS2 | F4 Being special: where do we belong? | F2 Why is Christmas special for Christians? | F1 Why is the word ‘God’ so important to Christians? | F3 Why is Easter special to Christians? | F5 What places are special and why? | F6 What times/stories are special and why? |
| Year 1 | 1.10 What does it mean to belong to a faith community? | 1.1 What do Christians believe God is like? | 1.7 Who is Jewish and how do they live? | 1.2 Who do Christians say made the world? | 1.9 How should we care for the world and for others, and why does it matter? (C, J, NR) | |
| Year 2 | 1.6 Who is a Muslim and how do they live? | 1.3 Why does Christmas matter to Christians? | 1.6 Who is a Muslim and how do they live? Part 2. | 1.5 Why does Easter matter to Christians? | 1.4 What is the ‘good news’ Christians believe Jesus brings? | 1.8 What makes some places sacred to believers? (C,M) |
| Year 3 | L2.1 What do Christians learn from the Creation story? L2.2 What is it like for someone to follow God? | L2.9 How do festivals and worship show what matters to a Muslim? | L2.10 How do festivals and family life show what matters to Jewish people? | L2.4 What kind of world did Jesus want? | L2.12 How and why do people try to make the world a better place? (C, M/J, NR) | |
| Year 4 | L2.3 What is the ‘Trinity’ and why is it important for Christians? | L2.7 What do Hindus believe God is like? | L2.8 What does it mean to be Hindu in Britain today? | L2.5 Why do Christians call the day Jesus died ‘Good Friday’? | L2.6 For Christians, when Jesus left, what was the impact of Pentecost? | L2.11 How and why do people mark the significant events of life? (C, H, NR) |
| Year 5 | U2.1 What does it mean if Christians believe God is holy and loving? | U2.8 What does it mean to be a Muslim in Britain today? | U2.5 What do Christians believe Jesus did to ‘save’ people? | U2.9 Why is the Torah so important to Jewish people? | U2.4 Christians and how to live: ‘What would Jesus do?’ | U2.10 What matters most to Humanists and Christians? (C, M/J, NR) |
| Year 6 | U2.2 Creation and science: conflicting or complementary? | U2.11 Why do some people believe in God and some people not? (C, NR | U2.7 Why do Hindus want to be good? | U2.3 Why do Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah? | U2.6 For Christians, what kind of king is Jesus? | U2.12 How does faith help people when life gets hard? |
The long term plan is colour coordinated to show a spiral curriculum, revisiting religions to allow children to build their knowledge using prior learning.
Christianity (understanding Christianity units) |
Judaism |
Islam |
Hinduism |
Non-religious groups and 'big' questions |
Vocabulary in RE
The teaching and learning approach has three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs, underpinning the aims of RE. These three core elements are:
1. Element 1: Making sense of beliefs. Identifying and making sense of religious and non-religious beliefs and concepts; understanding what these beliefs mean within their traditions; recognising how and why sources of authority (such as texts) are used, expressed and interpreted in different ways, and developing skills of interpretation.
2. Element 2: Understanding the impact. Examining how and why people put their beliefs into practice in diverse ways, within their everyday lives, within their communities and in the wider world.
3. Element 3: Making connections. Evaluating, reflecting on and connecting the beliefs and practices studied; allowing pupils to challenge ideas studied, and the ideas studied to challenge pupils’ thinking; discerning possible connections between these and pupils’ own lives and ways of understanding the world.
Our teaching and learning styles in RE enable children to build on their own experiences and extend their knowledge and understanding of religious traditions and beliefs. We use their experiences at religious festivals such as Easter, Diwali, Passover etc. to develop their religious thinking.
This is an example of success criteria used in our books at the start of a lesson.
Key Question: How do Hindus show their faith at home?
Success Criteria:
Understand the impact
1) Describe how Hindus show their faith within their families in Britain today (e.g. home puja)
Make sense of belief
2) Identify the terms dharma, Sanatan Dharma and Hinduism and say what they mean.
Make connections
3) Talk about some connections between Hindu ways of living and my own.
Our planning aims to look for answers to big questions using the three core elements as outlined above. For some questions, the children may only explore one of the elements.
Special Education Needs in Religious Education
How do we ensure all children can access RE lessons?
R.E. gives pupils with SEND the chance to build their self-confidence and awareness of other cultures via discussion. Children begin to further understand the world they live in as peers bring their own experiences and understanding of life into the classroom. The importance of differentiation in foundation subjects is important for ensuring all children access the curriculum. R.E. gives all pupils the chance to reflect on and consider their own values and those of others by increasing their knowledge of other cultures and religions.
SEND children are also aided by the partner-learning approach. All teachers carefully choose partners who will help children succeed and this is the case with R.E. Differentiation is also achieved by challenge-choosing: the choice aspect of how to express ideas benefits children with SEND who can pitch in with a chosen activity. Children of all abilities can develop a positive attitude towards others and show respect for their beliefs and experiences.
Impact
Formative assessment
Assessment is an integral part of every subject. The children are continuously assessed before, during and after the lessons. After each lesson, the children will be assessed using ‘I can’ statements for that lesson found within the planning. Identifying at the end of the lesson whether they feel they have met that target, this will be matched with a tick from the teacher on the SC if they have achieved this. Children will also create a ‘knowledge dump’ at the start of each topic, adding and revisiting the page throughout their time focusing on the topic.
Summative assessment
At the end of a unit, the teacher will fill in an assessment grid which will assess the children based on the outcomes from the entire unit. Retention of knowledge is supported and assessed through a range of mini quizzes revisited regularly.