Curriculum – Religious Education (RE)

Our Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement for Religious Education

The rights and dignity of our children are at the heart of everything we do, every decision we and they make and every driver for making progress and helping our children to develop as responsible, valued global citizens who want to make a positive contribution to their and our world.

In our school it is our intent that we help children to develop resilience, perseverance, autonomy and focus. Our children learn that they are valued and valuable, they are independent people in their own right and they have the power to do wonderful, amazing things at every stage of every day.

Every one of our children is a unique individual with their own strengths, aptitudes, interests and dreams. As a school community we will endeavour to support each child to make the most of every opportunity we offer.

We provide enriching experiences to engage learners and in designing and developing our curriculum we have taken into consideration

  • how children learn and remember; progress means knowing more and remembering more
  • what our children need to succeed in life; the cultural capital they need to make aspirational choices and succeed beyond their time at Wingate Primary School.

The key drivers for our curriculum are:

Ambition and aspiration
Resilience and courage
Autonomy and independence
Perseverance and solution finding

RE is taught according to the Durham Agreed Syllabus 2020 and the four concepts of belief, authority, expressions of belief and impact of belief. The RE curriculum intends to provoke 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. Its intent is to promote children’s understanding of and respect for belief and beliefs through encouraging them to ask questions, think critically and reflect on their learning and their own experiences and attitudes. This is implemented through introducing and studying a range of world religions across Early Years, Key Stage 1 and 2 where children are not only taught about specific features, beliefs and practices of these, but they are given opportunities to ask questions, give opinions and compare across religions, to reflect on their own beliefs, values and feelings in relation to what they have learnt and to develop their understanding of the role the values play in our community and the wider world. The impact of this will be that children will have a more detailed knowledge and understanding of concepts across several religious and nonreligious worldviews and how these connect to form a framework for understanding religious and non-religious worldviews. Children will be able to show appreciation of different perspectives, recognising the reasons given to support these viewpoints and will be able to raise controversial questions, express their opinions and use sound reasons to back these up.

Intent

Through teaching Religious Education using the Agreed Syllabus we aim to help children to:

  • develop deepening knowledge and understanding about a range of religious and nonreligious worldviews so that they can:

– describe and explain beliefs and theological concepts
– describe and explain some sources of authority and teachings within and across religious and non-religious traditions
– describe and explain ways in which beliefs are expressed
– know and understand the significance and impact of beliefs and practices on individuals, communities and societies
– connect these together into a coherent framework of beliefs and practices

  • gain and deploy deepening understanding of specialist vocabulary and terms
  • know and understand about religious diversity within the region, as well as nationally and globally
  • know and understand how religion can be defined and what is meant by the term “religious and non-religious worldviews” and with increasing clarity know that these worldviews are complex, diverse and plural
  •  gain and deploy skills that enable critical thinking and enquiry in relation to the material they study
  • reflect on their own thoughts, feelings, experiences, ideas, values and beliefs with increasing discernment
  • Develop a positive attitude towards other people, respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own and towards living in a society of diverse religions (RRSA)

Implementation

  • RE is planned and taught in accordance with the Durham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. (Revised 2020). Lessons are planned to ensure pupils’ knowledge and understanding is developed through critical thinking and personal reflection. They take into account the four concepts of belief, authority, expressions of belief and impact of belief using one or more of the five areas of enquiry.
  • Enquiry questions are at the heart of RE at all key stages. They enable pupils to build on previous learning and deepen and broaden their understanding through increasingly sophisticated and complex systematic and thematic enquiries and are used for units of work at all key stages.
  • Throughout the key stages pupils have opportunities to develop a range of skills as well as positive attitudes to their own and others’ beliefs, ideas, experiences and values. Pupils study Christianity at each of the Key stages. During the Foundation Stage and KS1 children become familiar with the following religions: CHRISTIANITY and BUDDHISM. In KS2 children become familiar with: Christianity (taught in every year in Key Stage 2), Hinduism and Judaism (core religions) and some aspects of Islam.
  • Over the course of KS1 and 2, children make links between religions by studying Diversity and Thematic units of work, including finding out about their local faith communities.
  • Pupils in each year group have the opportunity to build up their knowledge and understanding of the major Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter by studying different aspects of these festivals each year, building on the previous year’s enquiry question to ensure children find the work stimulating and that their breadth of knowledge and understanding is increased, as well as deepening their critical thinking skills and personal reflection.
  • Aspects of other religions are taught through festivals and celebrations.
  • Planning for RE follows a yearly cycle, with a long term plan for each year group specifying the ‘Big Questions’ to be studied to ensure coverage
  • RE is taught weekly in discrete blocks.  Further opportunities arise though Assemblies, related topic work such as Creative Arts, festivals, visitors to the school and through educational visits to places of worship.
  • Religious Education does not aim to indoctrinate children to any particular faith, but aims to reflect the spiritual, moral, cultural and social aspects of the major religious traditions in Great Britain.

Vocabulary

The promotion of a language rich R.E. curriculum is essential to the successful acquisition of knowledge and understanding in R.E. Children have access to key knowledge, language and meanings to develop and deepen their understanding of the beliefs and practices involved different religious and non-religious world views. Our R.E. Vocabulary Document identifies key vocabulary to be taught from Reception to Year 6. These words are part of a whole host of work aimed at narrowing the vocabulary gap for our children. As a school we aim to expose all children to a broad range of vocabulary and provide them with the skills to use and apply these.

Impact

The impact of the R.E. curriculum will be that children at Wingate Primary School enjoy R.E. and discovering more about religious and non-religious worldviews. They will be confident learners and play an active role in the community of enquiry to enable them to have a more detailed knowledge and understanding of concepts across several religious and nonreligious worldviews. They will have knowledge of how these connect to form a framework for understanding religious and non-religious worldviews and be able to compare and contrast these, asking relevant questions and discussing their ideas and opinions. The aim of our R.E. curriculum is that children, as global citizens and part of a multicultural and diverse society, will be able to show appreciation of different perspectives, recognising the reasons given to support these viewpoints and will be able to raise controversial questions, express their opinions and use sound reasons to back these up, in a respectful and considerate manner.

Pupil Voice

“We learned in the Bible there was a story that said God was friends with everyone even if they were his enemy.”  Freddie

“It’s good when Open the Book come in because they act it out (the story).” Ambrose/Holly/Hannah

“I loved seeing the stained glass windows when we visited the church because they looked cool!” Charlie

“I enjoyed learning about Jesus. I find some of the stories in the Bible interesting and how Christians and other religions, such as Jews, celebrate their religion.” Oscar

“I enjoyed hearing from Taj’s point of view on the interview with a Muslim woman.  It was interesting hearing from a real person’s point of view.”  Charlie

Celebrating R.E.

RE Curriculum Overview