RE
Curriculum Statement
An integral part of the broad and balanced curriculum here at Blackthorns is preparing pupils for adult life through Religious Education (RE). By teaching and exposing pupils to a wide range of religions and world views, children are taught spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; personal development and wellbeing; and community cohesion.
Our academy follows the Jigsaw RE scheme of work, which fosters an enquiry-based approach to RE learning.
Curriculum Intent
Our intentions for the RE curriculum are:
- To know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews.
- To express insight into how religion and other world views influence morality, identity and diversity.
- To express ideas as to how religions and other world views address questions of meaning, purpose and value.
- To tolerate and respect others and their beliefs.
Through our curriculum and enquiry-based learning, we hope for children to apply their secured knowledge of different religions and beliefs to critically evaluate worldviews, while maintaining a positive attitude to cultures and beliefs that differ from their own.
Implementation
The school follows a curriculum created by ‘Jigsaw RE.’ This scheme maintains the progression of learning by covering Christianity in all year groups, as well as covering a multitude of religions throughout the key stages.
In Early Years, as with every year, children begin with their own experience. In the first term, children spend time pondering what it is that makes people special - in their own lives and then within the religion of Judaism, followed by an enquiry into what Christmas is. They move on to explore how people celebrate, with the focus on Hinduism, and end the second term exploring salvation in relation to Easter. In the final term, children touch on many religions, seeing what they can learn from stories within Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
Year One build upon this learning as children look more in depth into what Christians believe – the children take time to answer ‘big questions’ and make connections across religions. They end the year by looking into why Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are important for Jews.
Year Two focus heavily on Islam, looking into the themes of prayer at home; community and belonging; and Hajj.
In Key Stage Two, children are introduced to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, and continue to explore Christianity, with a revisit to Islam in Year 6. The children are encouraged to think critically and evaluate what they have learnt through comparison and contrast. Emphasis is placed on using evidence to justify their answers.
These religious topics have been chosen specifically from the ‘Jigsaw RE’ scheme to ensure wide coverage and a progression of learning across the school.
We have a weekly church assembly in which local faith groups come to talk with the children; these include local churches and occasionally, other organisations.
Impact
By the end of ks1 children will be able to:
- Talk about what concepts like belonging, commitment kindness and forgiveness mean to them in their world.
- Verbalise and/or express their own thoughts.
- Recall facts about the religions/beliefs they have studied.
- Begin to use the religious vocabulary.
- Start to explain the significance and meaning of the facts and practices they have studied.
- Start to think through the enquiry questions using facts.
- Begin to see there could be more than one answer.
By the end of ks2 children will be able to:
- Explain how concepts/beliefs (for example, forgiveness) resonate in their own life and how this might be different for other people because of their religion/belief.
- Express their own thoughts after having reflected on them in relation to others’.
- Recall facts about religions and explain differences in practice and interpretation within and between religions/ belief systems.
- Weight up evidence, and different arguments and aspects relevant to the enquiry question.
- Express their answers, supported with evidence and rationale.
How do we assess RE?
The Jigsaw RE scheme comes with its own assessment system which permeates throughout the curriculum resources and enquiries. The following three areas are reviewed within, and at the end of, an enquiry so that evaluations can take place of the children’s progress in these three areas:
- Personal resonance with or reflection on the concept/belief underlying the subject matter of the enquiry. The child’s own thoughts, opinions, belief, empathy. (Personal development)
- Knowledge and understanding of the subject matter of that enquiry (substantive/ subject knowledge)
- Skills of evaluation, research, critical thinking in relation to the enquiry question (disciplinary knowledge)