Our RE Curriculum
Intent
At St George's, our RE curriculum provokes challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. We believe that it is vital for all our pupils to learn from, and about religions and worldviews, so that they can understand the world around them, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. We encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. We encourage our pupils to think rigorously, creatively, imaginatively and respectfully about theirs and others ideas in relation to religions and worldviews. Our RE curriculum is enhanced further with first hand experiences, for example visits to local places of worship, such as the Gurdwara and the Jewish Museum. We want all children to enjoy RE and to experience success in the subject.
RE explores big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can make sense of religion and worldviews, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.
Implementation
At St George's, we use the agreed Salford Religious Education syllabus as the basis for our curriculum. The curriculum for RE aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews.
- Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews.
- Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews.
Our pupils learn about and from Christianity in each key stage, plus the other principal religions represented in the UK: Islam, Hinduism and Judaism. We also choose to teach Sikhism as this faith is represented within our school and community. Other, non-religious worldviews, for example Humanism, are also the focus for study.
There are no presumptions made as to the religious backgrounds and beliefs and values of the children and the staff. We value the religious background of all members of the school community. Our pupil voice revealed that our pupils enjoy learning from others and so we regularly encourage them to share their own experiences with others freely, thus developing self-confidence, self-esteem and listening skills. All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity. We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils. We promote teaching in RE that stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children, for example visits to the local church.
Teachers use the Agreed Syllabus Unit plans, selecting and adapting the content of the lesson sequences in order to meet the needs of their pupils and to achieve the learning outcomes. Teachers use a range of high quality resources and artefacts to bring lessons to life, engage the children and develop respect for religious items.
Pupils in our EYFS learn about religions and worldviews through special people, books, times, places and objects. In addition they learn about current festivals and celebrations, such as Divali and Eid. Children are introduced to subject specific words and use all their senses to explore beliefs, practices and forms of expression. They are encouraged to ask questions and reflect on their own feelings and experiences. They use their imagination and curiosity to develop their appreciation of and wonder at the world in which they live.
In addition to weekly RE lessons, our pupils attend regular assemblies, which follows the Christian calendar as well as focusing on specific festivals or celebrations. We welcome visitors, such as the local religious leaders, who bring to life and extend pupils knowledge of festivals.
Impact
Our school has a respectful and supportive ethos. Our approaches in RE also support the children in learning and developing transferrable skills, such as collaborative and independent learning, speaking and listening skills, as well as empathy and the need to recognise the success and achievement of others.
The key question learning outcomes are expressed in terms that allow pupils to meet the outcomes first in an emerging form, second by meeting the expectations, and then third by exceeding expectations. Regular assessments inform teaching in RE. This assessment is one way in which we ensure that we are able to maintain high standards in RE.
RE plays an important role in preparing our pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. Our pupils become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. RE makes an important contribution to our duty to promote community cohesion. It provides a key context to develop our pupil’s understanding and appreciation of diversity and to challenge racism and discrimination.
RE offers our pupils the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way. Our pupils are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. Through RE our pupils are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which we hope they are then able to communicate to their families and wider community.