Religious Education

RE Curriculum Statement

“Religion is the clearest telescope through which we can behold the beauties of creation.”

William Scott Downey

Intent 

At Crow Orchard Primary School, the RE curriculum is taught in accordance with the Lancashire Agreed Syllabus ‘Searching for Meaning’. We aim to engage, motivate and inspire children to develop and affirm their own beliefs, values and attitudes through an exploration of shared human experiences. The curriculum has been personalised to meet the needs of the children in our school. We believe that all children should be exposed to higher-level thinking questions and should be able to collaborate with peers. We believe that Religious Education develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of religions presented within our multi-cultural society. At the heart of the Lancashire Scheme of Work is the quest to understand what it is to be human. By learning about, and from, religion children can become more open minded, respectful and achieve greater self-awareness. The skills and attitudes developed through RE can make a significant contribution to promoting British Values. We believe that studying religious and non-religious worldviews is essential if pupils are to be well prepared for life in our increasingly diverse society. Pupils need to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to make sense of the complex world in which they live so that they can ‘respect religious and cultural differences and contribute to a cohesive and compassionate society’ (RE Review, 2013).

We have eight key priorities at Crow Orchard Primary School that underpin every subject area. We believe that by focusing on these key priorities our children will be ready to successfully meet the challenges of the next stage of their education and their lives.

Implementation
 

Our RE curriculum is designed to both fulfil the requirements of the Religious Education in English Schools Guidance, and to provide experiences that engage, inspire and motivate all children here at Crow Orchard Primary School. Our curriculum is ambitious and the methods of implementation will enable all pupils to achieve well and attain high level outcomes by the end of each key stage. The curriculum is taught from Reception to Year 6 and reflects the fact that religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking into account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religious traditions represented in our community. As such, 50% of the teaching is focused upon Christianity. We recognise the variety of religions and non-religious backgrounds from which our pupils come. The curriculum is not designed to convert children, or to promote a particular religion or religious belief. As a school we maintain that teaching about religions and worldviews should be sufficiently fair, balanced and open.

The Lancashire Scheme of Work has been adapted in light of our school structure and fully meets the needs of our pupils. Learning has been carefully considered, mapped out and sequenced through each Key Stage in order to ensure coverage of skills and clear progression. We recognise that RE teaching may need repetition and development, therefore religions are revisited throughout the years. This enables children to develop and reinforce their understanding in order to improve. Learning is adapted to meet the needs of different pupils, for example SEND and provides additional challenges for those children who require it.

We have a clear long term curriculum map for KS1 and KS2. Each unit begins with a question that the children are asked to investigate with regard to a particular religion. Our RE long term plan maps out each unit covered during each half term. Throughout our school the religions covered are Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.

RE teaching at Crow Orchard Primary School provides children with rich, purposeful and ambitious opportunities to learn, and although it is taught as a separate subject discipline, opportunities arise in lessons for children to apply skills to other areas of the curriculum including English (through drama), art and music. Floor books are used to capture children’s learning through photographs and thoughts. Discussion is a crucial part of Religious Education and allows children to share thoughts with their peers. Teachers at Crow Orchard Primary School use varied questioning techniques to stimulate these discussions, promote enquiry, deepen learning and support assessment. Well planned, clearly structured lessons drive forward key skills and knowledge. Lessons are sequenced over time to ensure chunks of learning are connected. Teachers use clear instruction, vocabulary and good subject knowledge when teaching.

Religious Education is taught in accordance with our school’s Equalities Policy. Stereotypes are avoided. Attempts are made by teachers to ensure that examples of religious figures reflect all aspects of diversity within society. Our RE curriculum makes a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development, this is central to everything that we do as a school, and awareness of Prevent and British Values. Our inclusive teaching and learning environment demonstrates the many opportunities which we provide for our children to understand democracy, law, liberty, mutual respect and tolerance.

Impact 

Our Religious Education curriculum has been carefully crafted and constructed to ensure that we inspire, engage and motivate our children. We aim for all our children to have secured age-related skills and knowledge before they leave Crow Orchard Primary School. This equips them with the ability to successfully prepare for later life in the complex world and will be able to make informed choices throughout their lives. In addition to this, we strive for our children to be knowledgeable about their own personal beliefs, ideas and values so that they can hold balanced and well informed conversations whilst respecting the views of others.

The impact of our Religious Education curriculum can be measured and monitored in a variety of different ways including; learning walks, RE floor books, workbooks, data analysis and tracking and pupil interviews. Floor books are started in EYFS and work is collated and passed up to the next year group. The purpose of this is to provide evidence of progression from EYFS to Year 6. Children carry out an assessment task at the end of each unit to demonstrate their understanding. It is the responsibility of the subject leader to triangulate this evidence to ensure consistency across the whole school. Throughout RE lessons teachers provide ‘in-the-moment’ feedback and support. At Crow Orchard Primary School we strive to include all children of differing abilities in Religious Education and provision is made for SEND children in the school. Parents are informed of their child’s attainment and effort throughout the year through parent consultation evenings and reports.

We endeavour to raise the profile of Religious Education in school by ensuring that we celebrate success and provide a wide range of opportunities for all of our children. RE is a subject that can be greatly enhanced in different ways. Teachers aim to provide some enrichment throughout the year through visits to places of worship or by inviting visitors into school.

The RE Subject Champion is: Mrs Sarah Meers

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