‘Schools should, through their RE programmes, aim systematically to prepare students for the spiritual and intellectual challenges of living in a world with diverse religions and beliefs as well as non-belief”
Big Ideas for Religious Education, Wintersgill 2017
Our Religious Education Vision and Intent
At St Margaret’s, Religious Education has a unique place as a central subject in the curriculum. We believe that it is vital for all of our pupils to learn from and about religion, so that they can understand the world around them. Religious Education enables children to build their sense of identity and belonging, helping them to flourish within their community and as citizens of a diverse society.The RE curriculum, underpinned by the teaching of Christianity and through teaching understanding of other major world religions and non-religious world views, teaches children to develop respect for others and helps to challenge prejudice. Within our teaching of RE, we seek to encourage curiosity, empathy, generosity and compassion, prompting children to consider their responsibilities to themselves and others and to explore how they might contribute to their community and the wider world.
How we teach Religious Education - Implementation
Religious Education teaching at St Margaret’s encourages the children to ask big questions and to think on a deeper level. We use Understanding Christianity and the Locally Agreed Syllabus as the basis for our curriculum. The selected units are outlined in our Religious Education curriculum mapping and have been carefully chosen and plotted together, progressing throughout the school. As part of each lesson, children are immersed in discussions, activities, stillness, and reflection times. Teachers carefully deliver Religious Education lessons to ensure that children feel that they can be themselves, without any judgement. Lessons give children a sense of purpose and help them to feel that they are part of something bigger in the world.
Experiences and Enrichment opportunities at St Margaret’s:
-Exploring sacred texts.
-Using drama and imaginative play to express feelings and ideas.
-Responding to images, stories, art, music or dance.
-Meeting visitors from local religious communities.
-Making visits to religious places of worship where possible.
-Taking part in whole-school events: Harvest Festivals, Christmas and Easter Services in church.
-Using classroom Collective Worship areas to reflect.
-Debating during RE lessons.
-Handling artefacts.
-Regular visits to St Margaret’s Church.
Impact
Flourish
At St Margaret’s C of E Primary School, we aim to ensure that our Religious Education curriculum is of high quality and equips children with the knowledge of world religions and beliefs. Our aim is to ensure that all children are equipped with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to flourish in all stages of their learning and life in the wider world.
Achieve
Pupils are given many opportunities to articulate their thinking and learning in every unit and this is supported by the ‘Digging Deeper’ sections of Understanding Christianity. We want the children to have thoroughly enjoyed their learning in Religious Education and to be able to recall their learning over time. We aim for the children to be confident to be able to talk about their learning, using specific vocabulary and that their quality of work is good, demonstrating knowledge, skills and vocabulary that meet the planned outcomes.
Believe
Through the teaching of Religious Education, we provide learning opportunities which enable all pupils to make progress. We use a range of strategies to support pupils and ensure that the needs of all pupils are supported in all aspects of the Religious Education curriculum. We celebrate diversity and what it means to be unique, and we value individuality and community.
Assessment
In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through:
-Reflecting on standards achieved against the planned outcomes.
-Monitoring and analysis of the curriculum.
-Capturing pupil voice through discussions.
-The quality of work in RE books and in RE learning environments.
-Learning walks.