R.E
Intent
The principal aim of religious education is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.
Implementation
Our curriculum follows The Cornwall Agreed Syllabus for RE 2020 - 2025. It is planned and sequenced to develop deep, lasting learning and builds upon prior knowledge, which our children can use today, tomorrow and for the rest of their lives.
During each Key Stage, pupils are taught knowledge, skills and understanding through learning about Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Cornish heritage through KS1, adding Hinduism and non-religious faiths in KS2. Each unit of work identifies prior learning and shows how this is built upon.
RE is taught in a block unit within a term or half-term to allow suitable links to be made to specific religious festivals taking place or to link in with other topics being taught. Children gain a deeper understanding of the religion studied through the use of high quality resources/artefacts.
The following skills are used, in order to strengthen the skills and deepen the understanding and knowledge taught: investigating, reflecting, recalling and retelling, exploring, discussing and empathising. Children can discuss and compare the lives of people they have studied from a variety of different religions.
Attitudes which are fundamental to RE are: curiosity and wonder, commitment, fairness, respect, self- understanding, open-mindedness, critical mindedness and enquiry. These work alongside the SMSC links and British Values implemented within school as a whole.
Visits to places of worship, and visitors representing different religions provide a variety of first-hand experiences for our children, to spark their interest and relate new learning to their own experience.
Impact
Our RE curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression.
The children make progress by knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more. They need to transfer and embed key concepts into their long-term memory and apply them fluently.
We measure the impact of our curriculum in the following ways:
Children demonstrate a positive attitude towards people of any religion and show an understanding of cultural beliefs different to their own.
They demonstrate respectful behaviour to all and this is transferable outside of school in the wider community and beyond.
Assessing children’s understanding of each unit’s linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
Images and videos of the children’s learning.
Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
Pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
Marking of written work in books.
Verbal and practical activities showcased in floorbooks.
Pupil self-assessment.
Teacher unit assessment.
Lesson quizlets, next steps and personal reflections.
Diocese and Governor monitoring
