Religious Education

The purpose of this document is to clarify the how, why, and what of Religious Education teaching at Harris Primary Academy Benson. This is to be used by staff to clarify expectations, highlight the resources that we have at our disposal, and to ensure that a high-quality R.E curriculum is being taught to all.

When studying RE, you need:

• To discuss – debate and conversate about issues that relate to different religions and cultures.
• To be critical – able to identify problems, discrepancies and contradictions relating to people’s faiths.
• To enquire– able to question and ask for justifications.
• To be inquisitive – want to know why, and how things work.
• To be appreciative – able to respect other people’s faiths and cultures.

Religious education promotes pupils’ understanding of the multicultural and multifaith society we live in today, enabling the exploration of issues, beliefs and differences between faiths. Religion and belief for many people form a crucial part of their culture and identity. Having learnt about different faiths and beliefs, pupils are then encouraged to understand how people interact with each other and explore interfaith issues of contemporary society. Whether they have a faith or not, pupils need to be given an awareness of what life is like from a religious point of view. Knowledge and understanding of the features, ideas and practices of the focused religions in each key stage is important so that pupils are able to distinguish between the religions and understand what religion entails. There is a need to appreciate the values and attitudes which individuals in a group hold true and the effects these have on the community. Schools have a duty to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils and, although it is important that the school ethos and all subjects contribute towards this; the teaching of religious education has a large part to play. The impact of religion on society and public life is constantly brought to public attention through extensive media coverage. The rapid pace of development in scientific and medical technologies and the environmental debate continue to present new issues which raise religious, moral and social questions.

At HPAB, we want all children to be inspired to look at their own faith and share their traditions as well as explore their peers’. Children are taught to understand and respect the beliefs of others. We also want them to learn about the world’s major religions and cultures through tales and facts.

At the end of each unit, a quiz will be taken to ensure that all children have retained the relevant knowledge from the unit taught. 

 

What will it look like in EYFS, KS1 and KS2? 

The early learning goals at EYFS aim to strengthen the positive impressions children have of their own cultures and faiths, and those of others in their community, by sharing and celebrating a range of practices and special events.

Throughout KS1 and KS2 children learn about the main world religions in blocks spread out across all year groups. This allows for units of work to build on previous learning and offers children the opportunity to revisit prior learning.

 

Implementation:  What does Religious Education look like at HPAB?

The teaching of R.E at HPAB places enquiry at the heart of learning. Each unit is planned so that it;

• is engaging and sets a purpose.
• allows time for children to draw conclusions and reflect.
• allows time for children to re-consider their opinions and views.
• allows children to justify their views respectfully than simply expressing their personal feelings.

The teaching and learning of R.E also offer children the opportunities to develop their SMSC skills by;

• Gathering insights into the impact of beliefs, practices and values, and whether they might be healthy or unhealthy.
• allowing pupils to explore the value of safety in relation to attitudes to authority, property, relationships and the impact of ideas, and to develop social skills and empathy for others in considering these issues.
• fostering a sense of self-awareness, belonging and identity that manifests itself in positive participation in school and community life.

 

To ensure our teachers provide the best opportunities for the delivery of the RE curriculum, the content of the subject has been carefully sequenced.

Teachers will make use of knowledge organisers to share key vocabulary for every half term’s unit, which will enable children to understand the exact knowledge/vocabulary that needs to be learnt by the end of the half term to give them a better understanding of each religion. RE is timetabled for an hour each week and taught each half term in 6-week blocks. 

Impact: Evidence and Assessment

At Harris Primary Academy Benson, children record their learning in a variety of ways, recorded within their RE books.  Evidence of the learning is dependent on the lesson outcome; year group and the knowledge and skills being developed.  

The use of retrieval practice strategies built into the learning will help teachers identify how much knowledge has been learnt in a unit. Each unit of work will also end with a short multiple choice quiz to assess the knowledge and understanding of the topic taught, this will be re visited throughout the year so that valuable knowledge is retained.

Subject leaders will conduct learning walks, planning scrutiny and pupil interviews to measure the impact of our teaching, based on how much children can remember.