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Religious Education
Intent:
At Ashdon Primary School, Religious Education is an integral part of the curriculum, offering opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development, deepening the understanding of the significance of religion in the lives of others – individually, communally and cross culturally. It provides a key context to develop young people’s understanding and appreciation of diversity, to promote shared values and to challenge discrimination.
We aim to ensure that pupils:
• engage with challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, discussions of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. Pupils will develop their knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, and religious traditions that examine these questions, fostering personal reflection and spiritual development.
• explore their own beliefs (whether they are religious or non-religious), in the light of what they learn, as they examine issues of religious belief and faith and how these impact on personal, institutional and social ethics, and to express their responses confidently and coherently. This also builds resilience to anti-democratic or extremist narratives.
• build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society.
• learn to develop respect for others, including people with faiths and beliefs that differ from their own, which helps to challenge prejudice.
• consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society. This encourages empathy, generosity and compassion.
Implementation:
Assessment of pupils’ learning and development in RE is an ongoing, formative process undertaken by teachers throughout each unit. This will involve a mixture of oral responses and discussions as well as written work, reflecting the importance of oracy within RE at Ashdon. Each unit is based on an enquiry question and the stages of learning displayed below build knowledge and skills which allow pupils to express their own opinion on the enquiry question towards the end of the unit.
The lesson structure within the SAT RE scheme is consistent from EYFS to Year 6, using a five-step pedagogy, which follows a ‘My Turn – Our Turn – Your Turn’ sequence and allows for complex concepts to be broken down into small steps. This enables all pupils to engage and succeed. Details of the five steps can be found in the image below.
Cross-curricular learning and real-world contexts
• Wherever possible, a cross-curricular approach will be taken to the teaching of R.E. Lessons will often be linked to pupils' learning in English, History, RSHE/PHSE or Geography.
• We understand that our world is constantly changing and wherever possible, real-time issues and topics will be explored throughout our R.E. curriculum.
Key learning experiences
• We understand that first-hand experience is an essential element of an outstanding R.E. curriculum and therefore ensure it is a high priority for all learners.
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We encourage children to share and discuss their own experiences of different traditions or beliefs with their peers and how these impact on their day-to-day lives.
• Visiting places of worship, meeting religious believers and exploring artifacts ensures pupils gain these first-hand experiences.
Challenge and Support for all Learners
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We understand that every learner develops differently, and we adapt our provision continuously to ensure every pupil receives the correct balance of support and challenge to enable them to achieve their very best. We provide suitable learning opportunities for all pupils by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the pupil, as well as providing opportunities for pupils to work collaboratively and support each other. Each pupil is valued, respected and challenged regardless of ability, race, gender, religion, social background, culture or disability.
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The SAT RE syllabus has the following features which allow us to ensure challenge and support for all pupils:
Impact:
Impact:
Assessment of pupils’ learning and development in RE is an ongoing, formative process undertaken by teachers throughout each unit. This will involve a mixture of oral responses and discussions as well as written work, reflecting the importance of oracy within RE at Ashdon. Each unit is based on an enquiry question and the stages of learning displayed below build knowledge and skills which allow pupils to express their own opinion on the enquiry question towards the end of the unit.
Although formative assessment takes place throughout each unit, Stage 4 of the sequence enables teachers to assess each child’s understanding of the focus enquiry question for that unit. Within KS2, this sometimes takes the form of an extended piece of writing, which begins to prepare them for essay writing tasks in KS3 and beyond.
The effectiveness of the curriculum is monitored through book looks, lesson observations and learning walks, as well as pupil interviews.
Our desire at Ashdon Primary School is that the overarching impact of Religious Education is enabling our pupils to be compassionate individuals who celebrate diversity in the world around them and are able to confidently discuss and grapple with big questions that they will inevitably encounter as they grow.
