Religious Education
What are we trying to achieve through our Religious Education curriculum? (Intent)
At Westrop Primary and Nursery School all we do is underpinned by our strong vision and values. Our vision and values support our ‘Curriculum Drivers’ which offer golden threads throughout our curriculum and ensure we have clear drivers for all that we want to achieve for our children.
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In Religious Education it is our intention for our children to be confident risk takers. Religious Education provides all children opportunities to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. We encourage and promote respectful discussion in Religious Education, which provides opportunities for children to develop their confidence and consider their viewpoints. Our children develop confidence through tackling difficult questions and having opportunities to openly discuss and challenge religious stereotypes, extremism, and racism. Our children are nurtured and respected as individuals who grow to learn that their voice is important and will be listened to in Religious Education sessions. |
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It is our intention to use Religious Education as a catalyst for positive mental health and well-being. Our children are learning about Religious Education and worldviews in an ever-changing, shifting world. Children are given opportunities to develop their spiritual, moral, social, and cultural well-being. We teach children about different religions and cultures so they can consider the moral and emotional understanding of what this means for them as individuals, their families, communities and globally. We nurture our children to be curious, respectful, and inquisitive about the different beliefs of others. |
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In Religious Education, it is our intention to provide our children with opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding so they can consider and evaluate the role of religion in a global context. Staff will never try to change religious beliefs or persuade children to be religious, Religious Education lessons are a safe space for our children to think critically and creatively. We encourage and challenge our children to think about their viewpoints and to consider influences from wider society and the media. We address misconceptions promptly and use knowledge, first-hand experiences, and questions effectively to allow children opportunities to learn about religion and worldviews. Whilst considering what this may mean for them as individuals. Children use a range of sources to support their religious education learning: artefacts, holy scriptures, visits to places of worship, visitors, textbooks, displays and discussion etc. These help to challenge children’s thinking and encourages them to question and learn why religion is important to believers. |
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Our intention in Religious Education is for children to consider community at the heart of a cohesive and harmonious society. Good community relations demonstrate for children that even when they have differing viewpoints, religious beliefs, and worldviews that they can still show mutual respect and acceptance for others. Religious Education provides scope for children to develop the knowledge and skills needed for today’s society and tomorrow’s world. Our intent is that our children can explore their own communities and place value on their role in society as well as learn about different communities and the attributes all communities have and can offer to each other as global citizens. Our intention is to provide our children with opportunities to connect with a wider community and we have excellent links with St Michael’s Church in Highworth as well as Global links. |
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Our intention in Religious Education is that our children understand the value of their voice and the impact it can have. Respectful discussion is a fundamental teaching and learning tool in Religious Education and staff promote ample opportunities for children to share, express and challenge their thinking through effective communication. Children trust and know their Religious Education lessons are a safe space to share viewpoints and question aspects of religion and worldviews. Our children learn key vocabulary in each lesson and can use this to support their answers and understanding. Staff effectively model language and vocabulary and recap key vocabulary from previous learning to support knowledge and understanding. Staff ensure misconceptions are addressed promptly so that knowledge and understanding develops rapidly. |
The fundamental aim of our Religious Education Curriculum is for our children to ‘get better’ at what they are learning and to be able to know and remember this curriculum as they progress through the school.
We want our children at Westrop to have religious knowledge, understand different ways they can learn and retain this knowledge and finally, to be able to understand, reflect and relate this to their own values and personal contexts.
How is the Religious Education Curriculum delivered? (Implementation)
Religious Education is unique in the school curriculum in that it is neither a core subject nor a foundation subject but the 1988 Education Act states that "Religious Education has equal standing in relation to core subjects of the National Curriculum in that it is compulsory for all registered pupils."
Westrop Primary School is a community school therefore we deliver RE in line with the Locally Agreed Swindon Syllabus, which fulfils the legal requirements. We offer a broad and balanced Religious Education and worldviews curriculum but understand parents still have the right to withdraw their children on the grounds they wish to provide their own religious education.
- Children learn key knowledge and develop their understanding of Religious Education through discreet lessons each week or on a two-week basis. Staff ensure that planning meets the needs of children and ensures coverage of the national curriculum is met. Staff plan exciting and engaging RE lessons for pupils and ensure individual needs are met.
- We adopt an enquiry-based approach as recommended by Ofsted, beginning with the children’s own life experience before moving into learning about and from religion.
- We challenge children through questioning and discussion to think about the meaning and purpose of life, their beliefs, issues of right and wrong, commitment and belonging. Gaining knowledge through learning about Religion and Worldviews is fundamental. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, and religious traditions that examine these questions, fostering personal reflection and spiritual development.
- Children are assessed according to age related expectations in line with curriculum requirements. Assessment and teacher judgements are made through observations and discussions with children. Staff consider children’s recorded work produced in lessons and use their knowledge to assess them against learning objectives. Staff ensure children recap previous learning at the beginning of lessons through questioning and discussions.
- Staff ensure cross-curricular links are made in RE where appropriate. There is an expectation that pupils will use a high standard of English- both written and verbal during RE lessons to develop their understanding of key concepts and questions. To make religious education a lively, active subject we employ a variety of teaching methods including art, music, discussion, the development of thinking skills, drama, the use of artefacts, pictures, stories, and the use of periods of stillness and reflection. Promoting pupil’s Spiritual Mora, Social and Cultural development is an important element RE teaching. Staff ensure pupil’s have opportunities to discuss and question what RE means for them and how this effects their own SMSC values and beliefs and what this may mean for religious believers and other world views.
- Children in early years begin to learn about religion and worldviews through developing their understanding of the world. They think about people, cultures, and communities, and the past and present.
- Children’s understanding is recorded through snapshot observations during their ‘Focus Child Week’ and WOW moments are recorded and uploaded to Tapestry for parents.
- Children in KS1 celebrate and share their Religious Education and worldviews work through a reflective topic floor book with annotations of children’s voice, photos and evidence of children’s written work. Children in KS2 and Year 2 record their RE learning in a joint PSHE/RE book.
- Discussion is a fundamental aspect of Religious Education. Children are provided with opportunities to articulate their understanding of key religious knowledge and can think about religion and worldviews in relation to their personal experience and context.
- Where possible we want our pupils to have opportunities to encounter local faith communities through visits to local places of worship, or visits from members of local faith communities.
- We have created strong links with all the local churches. Bella and Jon from St Michael’s church in Highworth are frequent visitors and kindly work with all classes at some point during the year and we are grateful for their support.
What difference is the Religious Education Curriculum making? (Impact)
- Using an enquiry-based approach to Religious Education, where a key religious question is the foundation for units of work, ensures our children gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to learn about religions and worldviews.
- From their different starting points, all children will make at least good progress and achieve their potential academically, emotionally, creatively, and socially. Knowledge, understanding and skills will be secured and embedded so that children can progress.
- Children are confident to express and share their own beliefs and values and understand these can be the same or different to others.
- Children are respectful, tolerant and have good communication skills when listening to viewpoints which may differ to their own. Children understand they can discuss and challenge viewpoints in a sensitive and respectful manner.
- Children demonstrate resilience, emotional awareness and persevere when they meet challenges.
- Children use opportunities to explore artefacts and question sources to discover the answers to key religious questions.
- Children have made excellent relationships with religious members of the community and are respectful and learn about religion from them. Children understand that religion is found within their communities and a wider social, global context.
- Teachers plan to ensure that children are accessing work at age related expectations, with regular opportunities to be challenged through higher-level questioning.
- Children will competently use and know the meaning of agreed vocabulary correctly when talking and writing about religious education and understand why this is important to people of faith and different world views.
- Children understand how British values are important in Religious Education and understand they can speak to any member of staff if they have concerns or worries.
- Children are assessed according to age related expectations in line with curriculum requirements. Staff use their judgements to support children in their next stage of learning.
What British values and SMSC looks like in RE
How To Help Your Child At Home
Further information to support your child’s learning on world religions can be found below.
KS1
KS2