Religious Education Curriculum
RE Curriculum intent, implementation and impact
Curriculum Intent
At St Anne’s school, pupils and their families can expect a high-quality religious education (RE) curriculum that is rich and varied, enabling learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of a range of faiths and world views. We teach according to the Durham Agreed Syllabus.
As a church school, the teaching of Christianity is at the heart of our RE curriculum. Links with our school vision, and support for pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development are intrinsic to our RE curriculum and have a significant impact on learners. We provide a wide range of opportunities for learners to understand and to make links between the beliefs, practices and impact of the range of faiths and world views studied. We provide a balanced RE curriculum which enquires into religions and worldviews through theology, philosophy and the human and the social sciences.
At St. Anne’s CE Primary School, Religious Education is an integral part of our school life and it holds. It holds a high profile within the curriculum and is a priority for senior leaders. We are a Voluntary Controlled Primary School with a Christian foundation and, as such, Christianity forms the basis of all teaching in the school and how we treat each other. We enable children to develop a sound knowledge not only of Christianity but also of other religions and non-religious worldviews beyond the six principle religions, providing the foundation for pupils to know about and understand the diversity of beliefs and practices in the world in which we live. Our curriculum also examines religious diversity in our local area, both within the immediate vicinity of our school and in the area local to Bishop Auckland. The curriculum is designed to increase knowledge and understanding of religious diversity and similarities and differences within and across religious and non-religious traditions.
Our RE curriculum allows children to meet the benchmark expectations within the Durham Agreed Syllabus. These expectations help us gain a clear picture of how pupils are making progress in Religious Education, how they are developing religious literacy and how they are getting better at Religious Education.
Curriculum Implementation
At St. Anne’s C.E. Primary School we provide a high-quality sequential religious education in line with the requirements of the Church of England Statement of Entitlement and statutory requirements. Teachers plan appropriate learning opportunities, develop assessment activities, map pupil progress and make judgements about pupils’ attainment and achievement.
The units covered have been specifically chosen to provide a curriculum which builds upon prior knowledge and allows the children to deepen their knowledge and understanding over time so that they know more, can remember more and therefore can do more. We develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths through four RE concepts:
- Belief
- Authority
- Expressions of Belief
- Impact of Belief
Religious Education contributes to pupils’ education by provoking 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. In RE pupils learn about religious and non-religious worldviews in order to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. They learn to interpret, analyse, evaluate and critically respond to the claims that religious and non-religious worldviews make.
Teachers have a high level of subject knowledge and have access to a range of high-quality resources to enable them to deliver engaging lessons. Pupils experience opportunities to learn and express themselves through an enquiry- based style of learning by:
- Posing and discussing ‘big’ and challenging questions
- Reading and critically analysing texts
- Interpreting information from different sources
- Researching information for themselves in books and on computers
- Listening to and discussing with the teacher and other pupils
- Engaging in pair and group work
- Exploring a range of media such as artefacts, pictures, photographs, music and drama
- Experiencing visits and visitors
- Taking part in outdoor learning
- Taking time for reflection
Pupils learn to express their insights and to agree or disagree respectfully. They are given the opportunity to reflect on their own thoughts, feelings, experiences, ideas, values and beliefs.
Assessment of children’s progress in RE is ongoing. As a piece of work is completed, it is marked and teachers give written feedback to pupils, often with an opportunity to respond and improve or extend their knowledge or critical analysis. If an opportunity for personal reflection is given, this is not assessed. At the end of each unit, children undertake one of a range of formative, age-related assessment tasks or tests. Teachers use this, together with their informal judgements made during lesson observations and marking, to inform their judgement against the benchmark expectations within the syllabus, 2020. Recording of assessment is termly.
Curriculum Impact
At St Anne’s, Religious Education offers opportunities for personal reflection and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as it encourages pupils to examine the significance of their learning in relation to themselves and others. It enables pupils to explore their own beliefs (whether they are religious or not), ideas, feelings, experiences and values in the light of what they learn. Teaching enables pupils to gain something of personal value from their study of religious belief and practice, for example, the way that they might apply insights gained from religious stories to their own lives.
How RE reflects the Church of England Statement for Entitlement for the subject
Allocation of time for RE recommended as the minimum entitlement is 36 hours for KS1 and 45 hours for KS2, which approximates to 5% of curriculum time, or roughly one hour per week.
Religious Education should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together. Such an approach is offered through a commitment to generous hospitality, being true to our underpinning faith, but with a deep respect for the integrity of other religious traditions (and worldviews) and for the religious freedom of each person. (Religious Education Statement of Entitlement February 2019)
Religious Education enables children to investigate and reflect on some of the most fundamental questions asked by people. At St. Anne’s C.E. Primary School we develop the children’s knowledge and understanding 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 not only of Christianity but also of other religions and non-religious worldviews beyond the six principle religions, providing the foundation for pupils to know about and understand the diversity of beliefs and practices in the world in which we live. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. As stated in the Church of England Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education, our school aims for all pupils:
- To engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human and experience.
- To recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places.
- To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.
- gain and deploy deepening understanding of specialist vocabulary and terms
The teaching of RE underpins the aims of the school: we have a positive, caring ethos founded on Christian beliefs, where all children are valued and respected and encouraged to maximise their potential; every child matters and every success is celebrated; our children will leave us as good citizens, feeling fulfilled, challenged and inspired, and with a solid Christian foundation.