Religious Education Curriculum at Thingwall
Intent
The intent of our religious education curriculum ensures that all pupils:
- Need to understand the role and significance of religion in the modern world, the important beliefs and values that shape it; and the impact religion has on many people’s lives and especially on families and communities
- Value themselves and others, regardless of race, religion or belief (see 7 protected characteristics Equality Act 2010)
- Have a strong understanding of how the beliefs, values, practices and ways of life within any religion links together and begin to make links across the religions
- Are able to celebrate diversity in society through understanding similarities and differences
- Learn about religion in order to learn from religion and have a good level of knowledge about the main World Religions (including humanism)
- Are able to ask significant and highly reflective questions about religion and demonstrate an excellent understanding of issues related to the nature, truth and value of religion.
- Develop their knowledge and understanding of the main World Religions (including Humanism) as well as offering opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development
- Are enabled to make comparisons between the main religions, identifying similarities and differences and understanding that RE can make an important contribution to society and social harmony
- Develop the ability to think for themselves and take the initiative in, for example, asking questions, evaluating ideas and working constructively with others.
- Develop the ability to link the study of religion and belief to personal reflections on meaning and purpose.
- Develop a deepened understanding of the Golden Threads for Learning and know how to make links between Wintersgill’s 6 Big Ideas across all religions.
Implementation
- Staff follow medium term plans as designed by our Reach Collaboration of schools in accordance with Wirral SACRE’s approved scheme of work. The collaboration of schools have worked very closely with the Harris Manchester College (Oxford University) and the Farmington Institute to ensure that the medium term plans offer full coverage and complement the Wirral SACRE scheme.
- Through Years 1 to 6 children are taught to use a variety of source materials and to use writing, reading, discussion, diagrams, photographs, artefacts and technology to develop and share their ideas and understanding.
- Children record their learning in individual exercise books and these provide the opportunity for children to review and revisit their ideas.
- RE lessons help children build up an understanding religious beliefs which are put into action in the local community and the wider world.
- Sticky knowledge is reviewed by the children and checked and consolidated by the teachers on a cyclical basis. All learning starts by revisiting prior knowledge and prior learning.
- Key substantive golden threads are revisited to ensure retention of knowledge and to build RE schema by making connections across different religions.
- Key Big Ideas are reinforced throughout to ensure retention of concepts and to build RE schema by making connections across different religions.
- At the end of a unit of work, children then use this accumulative knowledge to demonstrate the knowledge that they have retained from the topic in the form of a summative assessment.
Impact
- The subject leader is responsible for reporting on standards in RE across the school to the governing body. This is communicated in the form of a subject synopsis which feeds into the termly Head Teacher Report, data updates during committee meetings, face to face reports to Governors during committee meetings, Full Governing Body meetings and in the termly one to one meetings with Subject Governors.
- We measure progress in RE by assessing whether pupils know more, remember more, can apply more and are able to do more. This is done through low stakes quizzing, regular timely formative assessments, time built into the end of every lesson for reflection and application of key concepts and summative assessment at the end of every unit.
- Children are encouraged to assess and evaluate their own work at the end of each unit to help them appreciate how they can improve their own performance and what targets they would set themselves in the future.
- Progress and achievement in RE are passed onto parents and carers at termly open evenings and in the annual report.
Religious Education in the EYFS at Thingwall
Intent
- Within the Early Years Foundation Stage, RE is delivered through the area of Understanding the World: People, Culture and Communities and contributes to most Early Learning Goals. The children work towards the Early Learning Goals as set out in the EYFS through continuous provision and adult-directed activities. Religious Education is organised using a scheme of work based upon the LA Agreed SACRE Syllabus specific to FS2. Children in FS2 begin to ask questions about themselves and others to develop emotionally, spiritually and morally, children develop a sense of place in their family and community, in the world and in the universe. Children learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families and traditions.
Implementation
- Throughout their time in FS2, children will explore many celebrations across the world and the world of religion may begin to explore the world of religion in terms of special people, books, times, places and objects. They listen to and talk about stories. They are introduced to religious words where appropriate and use their senses in exploring religions and beliefs, practices and forms of expression. They reflect on their own feelings and experiences. They use their imagination and curiosity to develop their appreciation and wonder of the world in which they live.
Impact
- The impact of Thingwall’s RE curriculum in EYFS is to develop an enthusiastic learner who is ready to enter the Year One classroom at the end of the year and access the National Curriculum. The children will be active learners who are ready to tackle the ultimate questions of beliefs and values in the modern world. The children will have the necessary skills to reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own opinions and listening respectfully to others. They will have a developing knowledge of world religions, secular world-views, religious symbolism and a religious vocabulary to support their learning.