Religious Education At Reydon Primary School

Intent

Religious Education has a significant role for the development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It promotes respect and open-mindedness towards others with different faiths and beliefs and encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging through self-awareness and reflection. The principle aim of RE is to engage pupils in an enquiry approach where they can develop an understanding and appreciation for the expression of beliefs, cultural practices and influence of principle religions and worldviews in the local, national and wider global community.

The key aims for religious education are reflected in the two attainment targets.

Attainment Target 1- Learning about region and belief

Attainment target 2- Learning from religion and belief

The development of knowledge, skills and understanding focuses on these two key aspects of learning in Religious Education.

Implementation

Religious Education is unique in the school curriculum in that it is neither a core nor a foundation subject, however the Guidance released in 2010 views it as an important curriculum subject. It is the intent of Reydon Primary that Religious Education promotes an enquiry-based approach through the implementation of the Emmanuel Project, which covers the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus for RE from Key Stage One and Two and can be used to contribute to the learning experiences of the early learning goals within the Foundation Stage.

Experiences and enrichment opportunities at Reydon Primary

• handling artefacts

• exploring scared texts

• using imaginative play or drama to express feelings and ideas

• responding to images, games, stories, art, music and dance

• meeting visitors from local religious communities

• making visits to religious places of worship where possible, and where not, making use of videos and the internet

• taking part in whole school events- (multi-faith days, Harvest Festival, school performances)

• participating in moments of quiet reflection

• participating in Open the Book assemblies

• using ICT to further explore religion and belief globally

• comparing religions and worldviews through discussion

• debating and communicating religious belief, worldviews and philosophical ideas and answering and asking ultimate questions posed by these

Early Years Foundation Stage

Pupils are introduced to Christianity as the ‘heritage religion’ and the one that most influences school and community life. They are taught about traditions, beliefs and world views outside of their own experiences through exploring other cultures and practices in the wider world.

Learning about religion and belief

Pupils should be taught to:

• Talk about religious stories, including Bible stories and the stories behind Christmas and Easter

• Recognise some religious beliefs or teachings

• Identify simple features of religious life and practice

• Recognise some religious words

• Name and recognise some religious symbols

• Recognise some Christian religious artefacts, including those in cultural and religious use (e.g. Christmas cards, Easter eggs and hot cross buns)

   

   

Learning from religion and belief

Pupils should be taught to:

• Recognise their own experiences and feelings in religious stories and celebrations

• Recognise there are similarities and differences between theirs and other’s lives

• Identify what they find interesting about religious events

• Question what they find puzzling in religious stories

• Say what matters to them and to talk about how to care for others

Key Stage One

During this key stage, pupils are taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through religion and belief as well as wider learning themes. They are introduced to other principle religions and can reflect on prior learning as they progress through the units.

Learning about religion and belief

Pupils should be taught to:

• Explore a range of religious stories and religious texts and talk about their meaning

• Explore a range of celebrations, teachings and traditions in religions, noting similarities and differences

• Recognise how belonging to a religion is important to people and the impact it has on their lives

• Explore how religious beliefs and ideas are expressed

• Begin to establish a religious vocabulary and suggests meanings for religious symbols

   

Learning from religion and belief

Pupils should be taught to:

• Reflect on what matters to them and others who hold religious views

• Reflect on moral values of right and wrong

• Recognise there are similarities and differences between theirs and others lives

• Communicate their ideas and ask and respond to questions

• Recognise how religious ideas and beliefs impact people’s lives personally and socially

   

   

Key Stage Two

During this key stage, pupils are taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through deeper enquiry into known religions and in Year 6, encounter secular world views. Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 consider the impact of beliefs and practices in greater detail and respond to more philosophical questions.

Learning about religion and belief

Pupils should be taught to:

• Explore and comment on the key aspects of religions, believer’s lives, their stories and traditions and their influence

• Explore how practices are related to beliefs and teachings

• Interpret information about religion and religious beliefs through a range of sources

• Recognise similarities and differences within and between religions

• Consider how religious and spiritual ideas are expressed

• Describe and begin to encounter religious and other responses to ultimate questions and ethical or moral issues

• Use a developed religious vocabulary when discussing and expressing their knowledge and understanding

   

Learning from religion and belief

Pupils should be taught to:

• Reflect on what it means to belong to a faith community and how this relates to them and others’ lives

• Recognise how religious practice is conducted in a variety of ways

• Discuss their own and other’s views of religious truth and belief

• Reflect on morality and how people respond to decisions they are faced with

• Reflect on sources of information and what they find value in in their own and other’s lives

Impact

At Reydon Primary, we envision RE curriculum impacting the pupils in the following ways:

• extend their knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs

• develop a religious vocabulary and interpret religious symbolism in a variety of forms

• reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular world-views

• explore ultimate questions of beliefs and values in relation to a range of contemporary issues in an ever-changing society

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, understand and apply skills related to the two attainment targets and learning themes embedded with the Emmanuel Project. Assessment criteria has been developed in line with the expectations laid out in the Agreed Suffolk Syllabus, to enable teachers to assess the progress of the children as they move through the key stages. Termly summative assessments are used to determine the children’s’ understanding and inform teacher’s planning and further differentiated support for pupils. This data is reviewed on a termly basis by the subject leader who also carries out learning walks, book scrutinies and lesson observations. The impact our RE curriculum is also sought directly from the pupils as surveys and questionnaires are used to gather pupils’ voice on this subject and together with summative assessment, action can be taken to further develop the RE curriculum.