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RE

Religious Education

Intent: 

At Iford and Kingston CE Primary School, we believe that Religious Education (RE) plays an important role in defining the school’s distinctive Christian character and makes a valuable contribution to the ethos and vision of our school. Pupils experience Christianity through the life of the school, as well as when taught through the curriculum. The skills, values and attitudes developed in RE are at the heart of a cohesive community where the children are encouraged to have a positive sense of identity and to better understand the world around them. 

We place value on the vital role of RE in developing religious literacy and deepening pupils understanding of Christianity and other faith traditions and beliefs. Our intent is to ensure that pupils are well equipped to make connections between religious concepts and beliefs and develop their own spirituality and judgements that are rooted in well-reasoned and informed knowledge of religion. We aim to ensure that the RE curriculum is challenging, dynamic and relevant to pupils of all ages and one that drives creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, and independence. We encourage the children to ask questions to develop their critical thinking and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form our society and to reflect on their own responses values. Our RE curriculum is designed to develop compassionate individuals who think and act with respect and with understanding of the views of others.

Implementation

At Iford and Kingston CE Primary School, we follow the East Sussex Agreed Syllabus for RE. We seek to develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of some of the major world faiths, and we address the fundamental questions in life, for example, the meaning of life and the existence of a divine spirit. We enable children to develop a sound knowledge of Christianity and to explore aspects of some other world religions. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. We help the children learn about religion (knowledge and understanding) and from religion (response, evaluation, application).

During their time at Iford and Kingston CE Primary School, children have the opportunity through RE to do the following:

  •          Develop their knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith and of other principal religions (KS1 – Judaism and Islam, KS2 – all major world religions covered in a rolling programme)
  •          Respond to the ideas, beliefs and feelings of Christianity and some other principal religions
  •          Understand the influences of faith individuals on societies, communities and cultures
  •          Develop enquiry and response skills
  •          Explore what it means to have a faith
  •          Develop their sense of identity and belonging
  •          Reflect on, analyse and evaluate their own beliefs, values and practices
  •          Consider questions of meaning and purpose in life
  •          Respect people with different beliefs, values and traditions
  •          Make reasoned and informed judgements on religious and moral issues

The purpose of RE is not to urge religious beliefs on children nor to compromise the integrity of their own belief.

Teaching is planned on an enquiry basis. A question is posed to frame each unit of work (for example ‘How does believing Jesus is their Saviour inspire Christians to save and serve others?’ (Lower KS2) or ‘How do questions about Brahman and atman influence the way a Hindu lives?’ (Upper KS2))

RE is taught weekly.

In Key Stage 1, children’s work is recorded in a class book – this contains photographs of drama work, pictures the children have drawn, short pieces of writing they have done, and quotes of what the children have said (scribed by the teacher). These books are available for the children to use in classroom reflection areas.

In Key Stage 2, children work in individual RE books. The work consists of photos of drama work, poster designs, analysis of pictures and Bible verses as well as longer pieces of writing.

Classrooms or school open spaces have opportunities for reflection; these are in the classroom and Christianity-based. They include prompts for prayers and reflections on the termly value.

Staff are supported by the RE subject leaders to ensure they are confidently and creatively delivering the RE curriculum. Teaching, learning and assessment are monitored by the subject leadership team and professional development materials and training cascaded to drive forward improvements in the subject.

Impact

At the end of each unit of work, children produce a response to a task that shows their knowledge and understanding of what has been taught as well as a personal reflection stemming from an enquiry question or prompt. This task is linked to the content and themes within the unit taught and responses may be evidenced in the RE class books or individual books. Sometimes, the contributions pupils make during discussions are used to inform the teacher assessment and the impact of the curriculum. Pupil voice surveys, lesson visits and book looks are an integral part of the impact monitoring cycle which is undertaken by both school and subject leaders throughout the year.