Religious Education (RE)
Intent
Broseley Church of England Primary School follows the Shropshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education and ‘Understanding Christianity’ resource in accordance with Shropshire’s ‘Standing Advisory Council of Religious Education’ (SACRE). In accordance with the agreed syllabus, Religious Education at our school:
- Is open and objective. It does not seek to urge religious beliefs on young people, nor compromise the integrity of their own religious position by promoting one tradition over another.
- Endeavours to promote a positive attitude toward people, respecting their right to hold different beliefs from their own.
- Promotes the values and attitudes necessary for citizenship in a multi-faith and multi-racial society through developing understanding of, respect for, and dialogue with people of different beliefs, practices, races and cultures.
- Recognises similarities and differences in commitment, self-understanding and the search for truth. Respecting and valuing these for the common good.
- Is not the same as collective worship, which has its own place in the educational life of the school, contributing to an informed, reflective, compassionate and caring school community.
- Promotes community cohesion through linking with our local Church: All Saints, Broseley.
- Recognises and celebrates the range of cultures and diversity of the school through workshops, assemblies and shared experiences of staff, children and people from the local community.
The RE curriculum at Broseley C of E Primary School is organised to support the development of children’s knowledge of religious and non-religious beliefs and worldviews, practices and ways of life and enable children to make links between these. It also develops children’s knowledge and understanding of the different members of our community. We believe in teaching RE that enables children to discover more about themselves, others and God. We encourage children’s values and spiritual development to be explored and experienced throughout the whole school. Knowledge and skills are supported by first-hand experiences, including visits to local places of worship and visits from faith communities. Knowledge and skills are mapped to support children’s understanding of religion and faith. The RE curriculum is also designed to support positive attitudes and values, and encourage children to reflect and relate learning to their own experiences. Children learn that there are those who do not hold religious beliefs and have their own philosophical perspectives, as part of its commitment to ensure mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths.
The syllabus recommends that any Christian themes or ‘Big Questions’ are explored by investigating and reflecting through use of the ‘Understanding Christianity’ resource. All the Shropshire and ‘Understanding Christianity’ units therefore include a number of ‘Free Choice’ units in order to facilitate this exploration through a variety of curricular areas. The syllabus has been created in a cyclical format to enable children to revisit and build on prior knowledge of the different beliefs and practices taught across the school.
“In Church of England schools the students and their families can expect a religious education curriculum that is rich and varied, enabling learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith. Church schools should provide a wide range of opportunities for learners to understand and to make links between the beliefs, practices and value systems of the range of faiths and world views studied. Church schools should use some form of enquiry approach that engages with, for example biblical text, and helps develop religious and theological literacy.
Links with the Christian values of the school and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are intrinsic to the RE curriculum and should have a significant impact on learners.”
RE Statement of Entitlement: The Church of England Education Office 2016.
In this school, RE should:
- Nurture pupils own personal faith/commitment within a clear ethos of respect for those children of the differing faiths.
- Contribute to pupils’ personal development including spiritual, moral social and cultural development, with reference to the school PSHE policy and curriculum.
- Give pupils a sound knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith.
- Give pupils the opportunity to explore the nature of religious language and symbolism.
- Value pupils’ own faith and introduce them to other world faiths
- Experience Christian faith and places of worship.
- Explore Christianity as a world faith.
Implementation: How is RE taught at Broseley C of E?
RE is taught weekly in all year groups. Coverage is planned to link with key dates and religious festivals to provide opportunities to celebrate festivals and religions with greater consistency and contextual relevance. Work is recorded in Pupil RE books and/or Class RE Floor Books and is evidenced with a variety of outcomes, including written pieces, artwork and photographs.
As children progress through the programme of study, they are able to look deeper into spiritual, ethical, moral and social issues and with increasing breadth across Christianity and also other different religions and worldviews through time and around the world. Learning is planned and sequenced to support pupils in building an ever-increasing picture over time, constantly building their knowledge and understanding of key subject knowledge and specialist vocabulary around concepts focusing on Believing, Living and Thinking. This ensures that the investigation, exploration and reflection of their own and others’ responses to ‘Big Questions’ can continuously increase in depth, breadth and complexity. As pupils move through the Religious Education curriculum, the expectations of pupils to explain ‘what’ the beliefs, practices and values are and the relationships between them, as well as explaining ‘why’ these are important and may make a difference to people, and ‘how’ they relate, change or impact on a wider world view also increases.
RE in the Early Years Foundation Stage
From an early age, pupils at Broseley C of E Primary School learn to develop a positive sense of themselves and others, and learn how to form positive and purposeful relationships. Pupils in the Early Years explore the world of religion in terms of special people, books, times, places and objects and by visiting places of worship. They listen to and talk about religious stories, for example the Christian nativity story during Christmas and the Hindu story of Rama and Sita during Diwali. They are introduced to religious words where appropriate and use all their senses to explore beliefs, practices and forms of expression. In the Early Years, the children ask questions and reflect on their own feelings and experiences. They use their imaginations and curiosity to develop their appreciation of, and wonder at the world in which they live.
RE in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two
As pupils move into Key Stage One and beyond, learning becomes more formalised. RE is delivered as an individual subject once a week using the Shropshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. In both Key Stage One and Key Stage Two there is an emphasis on speaking and listening skills, with teachers encouraging civilised debate and reasoned argument.
RE provokes challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. It is vital therefore that our pupils are given a safe and supportive space to explore these ideas with one another. As in the Early Years, children in Key Stage One and Two have the opportunity to visit different places of worship. To further deepen learning, religious visitors are organised to talk to the children about their faith, festivals and beliefs. These visits provide the children with opportunities to ask questions and have hands on experiences: making Christingles and Diwali lights and singing Christmas hymns. These trips and visitors are organised focusing on the topics that the children are studying.
Inclusion and Adaptive Teaching
We are committed to ensuring that our curriculum and provision meets the needs of all pupils. Teaching teams plan learning activities according to the needs of children within the class; activities are adapted appropriately using formative assessment information. The needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities are accounted for appropriately, in accordance with Assess Plan Do Review (ADPR) documentation.
We are committed to providing a teaching environment which ensures all children are provided with the same learning opportunities regardless of social class, gender, culture, race, special educational need or disability. Teachers use a range of strategies to ensure inclusion and also to maintain a positive ethos where children demonstrate positive attitudes towards others. Support for specific individuals is well considered and planned for, with consideration given to how greater depth and further challenge can be provided and demonstrated by children who require further challenge. All pupils are entitled to access the Religious Education curriculum at a level appropriate to their needs.
To ensure inclusion, teachers use a range of strategies in line with the school's Teaching and Learning and SEND Policies. Independent tasks, as well as teaching, are also well-adapted to ensure full accessibility and reasonable adjustments are made when needed, as well as to provide appropriate challenge to different group of learners. The school makes full use of teaching assistants who are deployed effectively to ensure that identified children are able to make progress in each curriculum area, reaching their full potential.
Impact
At Broseley C of E Primary School we deliver a high-quality sequential religious education (RE) programme. RE lessons contribute to the outworking of our Christian vision and we regularly evaluate the impact of the teaching of RE to ensure that pupils flourish academically through the provision of high-quality RE.
All planning for each unit is saved on to the Workgroup and can be accessed by Subject Leader at any time. This is then monitored to ensure that ‘I know statements’ have been used and the learning intentions match those from SACRE. Challenges are often created verbally and in KS2 this can take the form of a discussion or even a debate; in KS1 it is often an in the moment intervention which arises from the taught session.
There are clear procedures in place to monitor the teaching and learning of RE. Children have respect for other cultures and the religions of Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam. They know more about key practices of these religions and can express the importance of respecting the beliefs of others. Children are challenged through verbal feedback in RE to think theologically and deeply. Sharing learning encourages deep questioning to extend knowledge and understanding of key concepts. Children are beginning to ask their own ‘Big Questions’ and challenge each other during RE Lessons (and beyond) to further explore the impact of living through the teachings of Jesus and multi-disciplinary lenses.
Alongside a whole school approach to celebrating different religious and cultural celebrations, the RE curriculum provides the means to promote positive images of people in the wider community, including their beliefs, traditions, culture, language and history. It ensures that children develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to promote and realise a better understanding of themselves and others and to equip with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of living in a rapidly changing, multicultural world.