Religious Education

Religious Education develops children's knowledge and understanding of religious and non-religious worldviews, and it provokes challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life. It teaches pupils to develop respect for others, including people with different faiths and beliefs, and helps to challenge prejudice. It prompts pupils to consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to the wider society. It encourages open mindedness, empathy, generosity and compassion.

Intent, Implementation, Impact

Intent

At Grangetown Primary School we believe it is important for all pupils to learn from and about religion so that they are able to understand the world around them. The 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. At Grangetown, we want children to learn about religion in local, national and global contexts which will enable them to discover, explore and consider different answers to challenging questions.

Implementation

Our school follows a programme of study implemented by Sunderland Local Authority which utilises RE Today and Understanding Christianity. Units of work have been sequenced through the curriculum to ensure progression of skills and fluidity of content, knowledge and understanding. Each unit of work has an overarching ‘big question’ and is carefully structured lesson by lesson to recall prior learning and learn new knowledge and skills. Each unit of work covers the core concepts of Religion: making sense of belief, understanding the impact and making connections. To accompany each lesson there is a leading question, key vocabulary and lesson ideas.

Within each key stage, the children will learn about Christianity and other main religions/beliefs alongside a thematic unit.

Foundation Stage children will encounter Christianity and other faiths as part of their growing sense of self, their own community and their place within it

Children in Key Stage 1 are taught knowledge, skills and understanding through learning about Christians, Muslims and Jews. Pupils will also encounter worldviews in a thematic unit.

Pupils in Key Stage 2 are taught knowledge, skills and understanding through learning about Christians, Muslims and Jews and Hindus. Pupils will also encounter worldviews in a thematic unit.

Class teachers have the autonomy to decide when RE is taught, whether that be in a block, a weekly slot or a dedicated day per half term.

Impact

Through learning about a range of religions and beliefs represented locally, nationally and globally, and by looking at the range of religions represented within our school, our children are able to demonstrate a positive attitude towards other religions and show a clear understanding of cultural beliefs which might be different to their own.

Allowing our children to reflect personally on the religious material studied, they have shown positive and respectful behaviour when learning about other religions which is transferable outside of school into the wider community and beyond.

Our bespoke RE curriculum has allowed children to develop their critical thinking skills which are transferable across the wider curriculum. They are now able to express their own views about matters, give plausible reasons for their thinking and show an understanding of differing views (they can see both sides of an argument).

As a school, we also measure the impact of RE through;

Children’s understanding, knowledge and skills which are assessed through observation, discussion, questioning and written work.

Assessing children’s recall using quizzes, end of unit tests, creating a mind map, using pictures and photographs and artefacts to support.
Discussions with the children about their learning.
Monitoring by RE subject leader of books, planning and content taught.

Our RE Policy

Our RE Policy is here.

RE Curriculum Map

Our Religious Education Subject Map provides an overview of RE, across the school.

Long Term Planning for RE

Our Long Term Planning for RE is here.

Medium Term Planning for RE

The RE Curriculum in Action

Summer 2022 - Year 1 Visit the Dhammakaya Buddhist Temple - slideshow

Y1 at the Buddhist Centre!

Dhammakaya Meditation Centre, Hebburn