RE
Intent
At Webheath Academy Primary we follow the Worcestershire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2020 created for Worcestershire SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) and approved by WCC. It provides a syllabus for RE for Worcestershire schools.
The principal aim of religious education is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.
In other words, it explores big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live. RE helps pupils to make sense of religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.
The above principle aim is sub-divided into three elements or aims. The curriculum for RE aims to ensure that all pupils:
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Make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs, so that they can:
• identify, describe, explain and analyse beliefs and concepts in the context of living religions, using appropriate vocabulary
• explain how and why these beliefs are understood in different ways, by individuals and within communities
• recognise how and why sources of authority (e.g. texts, teachings, traditions, leaders) are used, expressed and interpreted in different ways, developing skills of interpretation
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Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs, so that they can:
• examine and explain how and why people express their beliefs in diverse ways
• recognise and account for ways in which people put their beliefs into action in diverse ways, in their everyday lives, within their communities and in the wider world
• appreciate and appraise the significance of different ways of life and ways of expressing meaning
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Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied, so that they can:
• evaluate, reflect on and enquire into key concepts and questions studied, responding thoughtfully and creatively, giving good reasons for their responses
• challenge the ideas studied, and allow the ideas studied to challenge their own thinking, articulating beliefs, values and commitments clearly in response
• discern possible connections between the ideas studied and their own ways of understanding the world, expressing their critical responses and personal reflections with increasing clarity and understanding
At Webheath Academy Primary the principle aim of RE is met through engaging pupils in participation in class, getting children involved. We like our pupils to encounter lived religion and belief through people, stories, art, architecture, music and more. We are keen that our pupils ask questions for themselves, explore disagreement and learn how to handle disagreement well. We like our pupils to challenge and be challenged by the ideas that they encounter. This is the intent of the RE curriculum.
Implementation - Which religions are taught?
The agreed syllabus requires that all pupils develop understanding of Christianity in each key stage.
Pupils study in depth the religious traditions of the following groups:
4–5s Reception Children will encounter Christianity and other faiths, as part of their growing sense of self, their own community and their place within it.
5–7s Key Stage 1 Christians, Jews and Muslims.
7–11s Key Stage 2 Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews.
* Consideration of other religions and nonreligious worldviews can occur at any key stage, as appropriate to our school context.
The long-term plan that we follow, allows for our children to revisit prior learning to support recall. The content of the curriculum is explored through key questions. The content is sequenced, enabling children to ‘get the bigger picture’ and make connections. It takes into account the rise in the number of Britons that have ‘no religion’. Individual religions are studied before comparisons are made. Religions are studied systematically one at a time before being compared thematically. This ensures that our pupils are less likely to be confused between different religions. The long-term plan allows for depth of study. There are core concepts that are encountered multiple times as each religion is studied. Core concepts are central ideas (big ideas that children encounter again and again) that the key questions explore. Pupils become familiar with these terms as they encounter them on a number of occasions. They make up the ‘spiral’ curriculum that is revisited to deepen and embed learning each time they are encountered.
This model allows systematic religious units to lead into the thematic units, where pupils can make some comparisons between beliefs, at the end of each year. The model keeps the study of Christmas and Easter to the appropriate time of the year.
Each key question encountered is a unit of learning that balances the three elements of:
Making sense of beliefs – We want pupils to make sense of the fact that there are diverse understandings between individuals and communities and diverse sorts of authority that may be interpreted in different ways.
Understanding the impact – If people believe that, what difference does it make to how they actually live?
Making connections - We want pupils to enquire into what is studied, reflect, evaluate and challenge ideas and ideas to challenge pupils’ thinking. We want pupils to have the chance to make connections between ideas, studies and their own ideas and experience.
Impact
The impact of our RE curriculum is measured through end of unit and end of phase outcomes for each of the three elements. All of the individual units that the children follow have outcomes that build towards end of phase outcomes. In the Foundation Stage the overall outcomes are the Early Learning Goals.
