Religious Education

Prince of Wales Primary School Aims for RE

We believe RE can play a powerful role in children’s education. By teaching children about a range of religions and world views, we aim not only to help children better understand the world around them but also to help them develop their own ideas, values and identities. Children are given time and space in the RE curriculum for personal reflection as they tackle challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God and issues of right and wrong, among other themes. Importantly, children learn to articulate their thought and beliefs clearly while also being respectful of others whose views differ. For this reason, our RE curriculum is an important component in how we promote our school values, and indeed wider British values, among our children.

Intent

To develop children’s knowledge of religious concepts and ideas. This will give children a greater understanding of the world around them and prepare them for the next stage of their education.
To build children’s cultural capital. Children will be equipped knowledge, behaviours and skills that they need to become educated citizens. We believe that this is a key ingredient in ensuring that our pupils are successful in society, their career and the world of work.
To build children’s vocabulary. We ensure children at Prince of Wales develop a strong grasp of vocabulary connected to religion and belief to enable them to gain a greater understanding of the concepts being taught.
To celebrate our diverse community. Our families have originated from a variety of different places, cultures and beliefs from around the world. We enable the children to learn and respect different cultures and beliefs and ensure that our children can see themselves in our curriculum.
To develop our children’s understanding of belief-based enquiry. Children learn what it means to be a theologian. This includes asking relevant questions about the beliefs and practices of people around the world, both now and in the past, and using a range of sources to answer these. They will develop an understanding of how religious enquiry, in its many forms, can lead to new, deeper knowledge and understanding.

Implementation

Early Years. In EYFS, children develop an understanding of the world around them. Opportunities for RE exploration are provided as part of Personal, Social and Emotional Learning, in free-flow activities and whole class sessions, as well as being part of topical, seasonal learning experiences such as Diwali, Christmas, Easter, Eid and the Chinese New Year. The learning is ongoing and is revisited throughout their time in both Nursery and Reception. In Reception, children begin to explore things and ideas that matter to them as individuals, which leads to discussion and role play about family and community celebrations and festivals. The children also listen to stories from different cultures and traditions, many of which have a spiritual element.
Curriculum Foundations Our RE curriculum follows the London Borough of Enfield scheme for RE.
Religions Studied: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Alevism and organised World Views.
Learning through 3 Strands All topics are learnt through 3 strands – believing, living and expressing. This supports children’s emerging sense of the similarities and differences between religions. A more detailed outline of what we learn in these units of work can be found in our RE overview and knowledge builders.
Links to Humanities Our RE overview supports links in History and Geography, for example in Y5 we discuss Green religion and caring for the earth. In geography we discuss how human activity has impacted rainforests. In Year 6 in History we learn about the Windrush and impact of immigration and in RE we learn about reducing racism.

Impact

Pupils will gain an overview of world religions, their similarities and differences. They will learn to appreciate diverse communities (such as in our school) and appreciate the values of each faith.
Termly assessments will show a greater depth of understanding and the quality of writing will improve in line with their greater knowledge. Work in RE will support the History and Geography curriculums.

Teaching Approach

KS1 Children receive one 45-minute lesson a week of RWV to learn the key concepts and vocabulary required. Children are taught new concepts and vocabulary for that week. A combination of in-depth teacher demonstrations, videos, direct instruction and pair or group work aims to support children in learning that week’s knowledge. Across the half term, children record and demonstrate their learning in their book.
KS2 Children will receive one hour lesson per week plus two additional RE exploration afternoons across the school year. Each topic will have a knowledge builder for the children, topic overview and assessment quiz.
Reflection All lessons will end with a reflective question linked to personal beliefs/thoughts to allow a comparison between religious views and world views.
Quizzing Quizzing is an essential part of our RE curriculum. Children take an RE quiz regularly which will alternate between a written and verbal quiz. Children are quizzed on the knowledge from the current and previous terms that are relevant for this lesson.
Educational Visits At Prince of Wales Primary school we have introduced an annual RE based trip for every year group. Over their time spent with us at our school, each child will have visited a Christian church, a mosque, a synagogue, a Hindu Temple and a Sikh Gudwara.

Rationale

EYFS – These foundation units introduce the concept that some places, stories and people are especially important due to their religious significance. Reception will have discreet RE lessons each week from the SACRE syllabus as well as marking key Religious festivals and dates in the calendar through Continuous provision throughout the year.

KS1 – These year groups are essential for building foundational knowledge in Christianity (Yr1) and Islam (Yr 2). These are the most dominant faiths in our school community. In year 1, children will learn in depth about the Christian faith and key religious festivals. They will learn about and visit a local church and what it means to be part of a Christian community. In Year 2, children are introduced to Islam. This unit continues in Spring to support retrieval practice. The Sacred books and places units allow for retrieval of Year 1 knowledge in Christianity and to compare with new knowledge about the Qur’an and the significance of Mosques (local trip). The summer units are continuations of Summer Year 1 units to, again, build on and extend knowledge through comparisons of two major world faiths.

KS2 – lower. In Year 3, we introduce Judaism. Children learn about the key beliefs and practices within the Jewish culture and faith and this gives them a third religion to make comparisons with as they move through the year. In the festivals unit, they look at Chanukah – in order to retrieve knowledge from the Judaism unit – and compare with the festivals of Christmas and Eid which have been looked at in more depth in previous years. Prayer is significant in Christianity, Islam and Judaism so this thematic unit, and the Summer 2 ‘What do different people believe about God?’, provide further opportunities to compare and consolidate knowledge. In Summer 1, a return to Christianity helps children to look at different denominations and world views within Christianity. In year 4, children are introduced to Hinduism This unit is split to allow for depth of study and a trip to a Hindu temple. Diwali in discussed in the festivals unit and children have the chance to look in more detail at secular and non-religious world views as they compare different celebrations at Christmas time. A unit on the inspiration of Jesus supports retrieval of prior learning and introduces more parables and miracles. In the Summer, two thematic units give ample opportunity to compare the now four main religions as well as non-religious world views in the learning about life events. They also revisit Hindu family values by comparing a Hindu marriage celebration to that of a Humanist, before exploring the messages of right and wrong and what their own thoughts and beliefs are.

KS2 – upper. In year 5, Alevism is the new taught religion and Islam is revisited in the Summer with greater consideration to the lives of Muslims in Britain and around the world today: comparing different worldviews within one religion. The remainder of units require children to retrieve their knowledge from the schematic units and apply these to ‘Big Questions’ that those who believe in a God, and those that don’t, might ask themselves. In Year 6, one further main world religion is introduced. This is either Sikhism or Buddhism depending on the current demographic of the cohort to ensure all children have had a chance to see themselves within our RE curriculum. Year 6 again then explore deeper ‘Big Questions’ about life and some of the bigger challenges and issues facing the world – racism and death. They dig deeper in Humanism and have the chance to compare similar values from the different faiths they have studied over KS1 and 2. In the Summer, their final unit allows for creative expression and more opportunity to express their own values, beliefs and ideas about the world – something which has been encouraged through weekly reflection questions throughout the curriculum.

At the end of KS2, children have had ample opportunity to explore a range of world religious and non-religious beliefs and views. Threads of these faiths and ideas are followed and revisited throughout the curriculum in both the schematic and thematic units to ensure regular retrieval of knowledge and to help our children know and remember more. Leaning is both creative and academic. Regular opportunity for self-reflection and applying taught concepts to life experiences feature heavily though out the curriculum to support our children in meeting the Principle RE aim and the end of key stage outcomes, whilst feeling represented within the full RE curriculum.