Our Religious Education Curriculum
Our Curriculum Intent
Religious Education encourages the children to consider searching questions and discover a rich knowledge of the world around them, whilst developing an important sense of what it means to be human. Children explore questions within each religion and formulate their own questions as they make sense of religion and spiritual concepts, developing their sense of belonging in a diverse world. An example is considering the similarities and differences between families during celebrations and appreciating the uniqueness that diversity encourages. Family members from our school community visit classrooms to support knowledge development of religious education and enable rich interactions, which develop the children’s philosophical view of different religions. Children are strongly encouraged to formulate their own questions when exploring places of worship.
Art, music, dance, drama and active sessions enable children to make comparisons across religions. We use Seesaw (our online learning portal) to capture the children’s creative journey, from brainstorming and questioning the topics, to discovering answers independently and collaboratively through discussion-based enquiry. A visiting Reverend supports work in class and regularly leads celebrations in assembly, and the children enjoy supporting local community festivals each year.
In Religious Education, our children work together to develop a collective sense of caring and excellence, driven by an absolute respect of diversity. Through carefully-planned lessons, they reflect on each other’s lives and the world around them, developing aspirations through the role models they meet and embracing the similarities, differences and changes within religions.
The Purpose Of Our Curriculum
We develop children who can…
1. Describe, explain and analyse beliefs and practices;
2. Recognise the diversity which exists within and between communities and amongst individuals;
3. Appreciate and appraise the nature, significance and impact of different ways of life;
4. Celebrate and respect the ways in which others express beliefs and values;
5. Articulate beliefs, values and commitments clearly in order to explain why they may be important in their own and other people’s lives.
Our Curriculum Offer - What We Teach In RE
Our RE curriculum works with the Lancashire / SACRE Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (2021) and challenges children to learn about a range of religions and non-religious world views. This is a medium-term planning model that is central to the delivery of our RE syllabus. Through the use of this model we ensure that the teaching of religious education is embedded within the disciplines of theology, philosophy, ethics and social science.
In each year group, a given key question provides the central line of enquiry and then focus questions provide a point of exploration within each religion.
- Shared human experience - the nature of being human.
- Living religious tradition - principle religious traditions encountered in the world.
- Beliefs and values – the theology that lies at the heart of these traditions.
- The search for personal meaning – a life-long quest for understanding.
EYFS
At Grappenhall Heys, the promotion of equality, diversity and British values is at the heart of our Early Years offer. In our Nursery and Reception classes, the beginnings in Religious Education are taught through the Statutory Early Years Framework, within the strand ‘People and Communities’ as part of ‘ Understanding the World’ (EYFS Statutory Framework 2021).
By the end of Reception, our children ‘Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class” (Early Learning Goal).
RE is integrated into the continuous provision of our Early Years curriculum, with children learning from a mix of adult-led direct teaching, child-initiated investigations and guided activities, visitors and sharing personal experience of their beliefs and values with their peers.
New RE skills and vocabulary are carefully modelled during whole class or group teaching and wherever possible within enhanced areas of provision. We encourage and set up opportunities for our children to follow lines of enquiry, ask and answer questions and discuss and express their ideas.
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
Our KS1 curriculum
Our Key Stage 2 Curriculum
Sample RE medium-term plan with endpoints - Reception Special Times / Year 3 Hindu Dharma / Year 6 Islam
RE knowledge progression - Islam / Christianity / Hindu Dharma
At Grappenhall Heys, we map the progression in vocabulary across the school from EYFS to Year 6 to ensure that children learn more and remember more by highlighting new vocabulary introduced each year. Key vocabulary is displayed in classrooms and pupils are expected to use and understand specific Religious vocabulary with confidence and accuracy.
Our Curriculum Offer - How We Teach RE
Ambitious endpoints and high expectations are achieved through a well-planned and sequenced spiral curriculum, allowing each year group to build upon their substantive knowledge through focused lessons. Knowledge is acquired and remembered through focused lessons, deepening the content of RE to help children understand the bigger picture of religion and non-religion. In RE, teachers respond to pupils' learning by modelling key concepts and ideas and scaffolding pupils' understanding over time. For example, staff build upon children's understanding and knowledge of places of worship in Early Years from learning about Christian Churches and continue to explore other places of worship such as mosques when learning about Islam in Year 1.
Effective questioning is used to check children's understanding throughout a sequence of learning, and to identify and address any misconceptions. Prior learning is linked to current learning in order for children to learn more and remember more. RE is not just taught in explicit lessons, but can be linked to other areas of the curriculum allowing for a broad and thorough approach to children's learning of religion.
Ambition for all
Our vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils succeed and we deliver a curriculum that is accessible to all children. Click here for further information on how we support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
In RE, all lessons are structured to meet the needs of individual pupils and to recap and build upon prior learning, knowledge and vocabulary.
In most cases, pupils with SEND continue to work on the curriculum of their year group. However, some, children with SEND are assessed against pre-key stage standards or by the engagement model. Where appropriate, the Early Years Framework 2021 and the National Curriculum 2014 will be used to identify suitable objectives to be incorporated into intervention plans and/or individual pupil targets. We encourage the use of active learning across the curriculum to support all pupils remember more.
To support our vulnerable and disadvantaged children, we identify individual pupils’ interests and talents, and build on these positives. There is a strong focus on providing a safe and nurturing environment and a whole-school approach to building positive relationships with both pupils and their families. Families are encouraged to participate in RE discussions and celebrations when relevant to a belief of practice they have at home, sharing their personal experiences with the children.
At Grappenhall Heys, we embrace the uniqueness and the diversity of all our children and ensure that we tailor our planning and delivery of lessons to be inclusive for all our children – considering their background, cultural experiences or beliefs. Learning takes place though a multi media approach, ensuring that all styles of learning are catered for in RE lessons.
What Makes RE Special at Grappenhall Heys?
Our pupils and staff enjoy Religious Education and we work hard to promote Religious Education at Grappenhall Heys. Teaching and learning styles will include the use of stories, artefacts, videos, role-play, written work, visiting speakers and virtual visits to places of worship. Seesaw record the experiences, thinking and learning of the children.
The school has developed valuable links with Reverend Alan Jewell at St Matthew's Church Stretton who regularly visits our children to deliver assemblies and support curriculum development. Reverend Jewell also supports the school with community events such as our annual Carol Concert. We have also developed interfaith links with Cheadle Mosque.
The fundamental skills, knowledge and concepts of the subject are set out in the Warrington and Lancashire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. Fifty percent of the curriculum focuses on Christianity, with the other fifty percent of the curriculum focusing on the other principal religions represented in Great Britain (here regarded as Buddhism, Hindu Dharma, Islam, Judaism and Sikh Dharam). Through units of work based on Key Questions, the overall question of 'What does it mean to be human?' is examined.
Our curriculum is designed to ensure that all children learn more and remember more regardless of their starting points - we promote equality of opportunity and ambition for all pupils.
Cultural capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that children can draw upon to be successful in society, at secondary school and eventually their career within the world of work. At Grappenhall Heys, we recognise that for our pupils to be successful academically and in their wider lives, they need to be given rich and sustained opportunities to develop their cultural capital. This is embedded throughout our RE curriculum to enhance the children’s learning and experiences within school and the wider community.
Our KS2 Pupils take part in ‘Passport To Religion’ afternoons, where children rotate through a carousel of different learning activities to immerse themselves into the world and culture of different religions. In the past, children in KS2 have learnt about Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Buddhism in order to reflect the religious population within our school.
Our Pupil Voice
“I love the different celebrations we learn about!” – Year 1 pupil
“It made me feel really included when we did the Passport to Religion Day because we learned about Jainism – my family believe in this and I could share so much about what I know!" – Year 6 pupil
“RE lessons are so much fun – I like it when we have visitors in.” – Year 3 pupil
Click here to learn about our RE Pupil Voice
How Can You Find Out More?
Please visit these websites to learn more...
- What is Christianity?
- What is Islam?
- What is Judaism?
- What is Hindu Dharma?
- What is Sikhism?
- What is Buddhism?