Intent

At Clipstone Brook Lower School we aim to deliver a Religious Education curriculum that will support children in acquiring and developing deeper knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other key religions in Great Britain and around the world. This intention ties in with our whole school curriculum driver: Knowledge of the World.

Our aim is to engage children in a practical and inquiry-based approach to learning by providing opportunities for our children to challenge key questions and discuss the meaning of different beliefs. There will be cross curricular links with PHSCE, our school and British values.

 Through Religious Education we will enhance our children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It will promote respect and open-mindedness towards others with different faiths and beliefs and encourage pupils to develop their own sense of identity and belonging through self-awareness and reflection. This intention ties in with our whole school curriculum driver: Social and Emotional Awareness.

As part of our practice we actively plan to use reading, writing and maths across RE to develop basic skills.

 Implementation

We use ‘Identities, meanings, values’ The RE agreed syllabus, 2018 – 2023 Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton as the core of our curriculum. As the children progress through the school they will build upon their knowledge and understanding of the following Religions:

• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism
• Hinduism

We also take into account the feelings and beliefs of non-religious people and other religions.

The syllabus outlines the main religions to be taught within each key stage. As a school we follow this guidance and build upon their knowledge across each key stage.

• EYFS will learn about Christianity and other faiths as part of their growing sense of self, their own community and their place within They will do this through make believe role play, dressing up, looking at different festivals and foods and religious stories.
• Key Stage 1 will study Christianity and Islam.
• Key Stage 2 will study Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism. Pupils may also encounter other religions and world views.

Religious Education will be taught in separate sessions or in block units of study in both Key Stage 1 and 2. The children will reflect on prior knowledge at the start of lessons by recalling key facts about the religion being studied. Their work will be recorded in Topic Books and through photographs.

 Each key stage will cover a new ‘Key Question/s’ each half term unless they are in Key Stage 1 where there is a double unit. EYFS will develop their understanding through discussion and activities during various festivals/ stories throughout the year. Throughout each unit there will be three core elements:

• Making sense of religious and non-religious beliefs
• Understanding the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs
• Making connections between religious and non-religious beliefs
• As Christianity is the predominant religion within the school and the local community, we believe that our children should be able to learn about other faiths through their Religious Education lessons and our Curriculum Enrichment days and activities.

 Examples of these include:

• Handling artefacts
• Visiting Religious places of worship where possible – Local Churches and tours of other places of faith
• Participating in Open the Book assemblies
• Visitors from local religious communities
• Taking part in whole school events g. School performances.
• Whole school theme days

 We respect and value all faiths and beliefs of our school and local community along with any visitors.

 Most importantly children’s knowledge and understanding will be formatively assessed by the class teacher during each lesson by setting clear lesson success criteria which identify the knowledge and skills children have used. The needs of individual children to be met through appropriate support and challenge.  A summative assessment will be carried out at the end of each topic to identify how securely pupils have met their learning outcomes within the subject which will be referred to.

 Impact

• They will begin to understand that people may choose or choose not to follow a religion.
• Children will demonstrate our school values by being respectful of different religions, cultures and ways of life.
• Children will reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughts and beliefs.
• Children will be able to recall, explain and summarise key facts and features of religions.