Religious Education (RE)

RE Intent, Implementation and Impact statement

“You, me, us, everyone - we are a school who believe have the power to change the world.”

This is our vision and we are committed to putting our children and community first. We work together to provide an excellent education, which allows all children to use their God given gifts to the full, within an inclusive and caring Christian ethos. We wholly uphold the belief that we are all one in God.

Intent

At Symondsbury the intent of our RE curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more. As a result of this, they will become independent and responsible members of a society who understand and explore big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that they can make sense of religion, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.

We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about and form religions and worldviews in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. They will be equipped with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities. Our children are encouraged to develop an ability for dialogue so that they can participate positively in our society, with its diverse religions and worldviews.

Our belief

To deliver the best standard of education.
To be a place where high aspirations are embraced by all.
To be a school to which all are proud to belong.
To be fully involved in the life of the community.
To provide a safe and stimulating learning environment where children flourish.

Implementation

RE plays an important part of Symondsbury Primary School and enables us to see our visions more clearly. It is given the same priority as other core subjects and is taught weekly. As a Church of England School we have written an RE curriculum that is taught according to the Dorset agreed syllabus, which is agreed between the Local Authority, teacher representatives and the Sailsbury Diocese.

To support the teaching, planning and assessment of Christianity we use the resource ‘Understanding Christianity’. This resource supports the children in developing their own thinking and understanding of Christianity, as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it, as well as ensuring children are given the opportunity to develop their own beliefs and values.

The teaching of other World Faiths is supported by the resource ‘Discovery RE’. There are two main focus areas within RE learning: learning about a religion and learning from a religion.

Sixty percent of RE lessons will focus on Christianity and forty percent of lessons will focus on other world religions: Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. As we are a school with mixed classes, we have created a two-year rolling programme to cover all religious aspects in each year group. Re lessons are planned from both Understanding Christianity and Discovery RE.

re long term plan whole school.pdf

Impact

Teachers ensure pupils are making good progress within RE, Understanding Christianity and Discovery RE have built in assessments. These assessments are a mixture of formal and informal activities in order to evaluate pupils knowledge on a specific question or religion. This evidence is also supported by pupil observations, their participation within discussions, recall of previous lessons and pupils' comments and ideas which are recorded within our RE journal. Each class has a journal which they can explore and reflect on their previous learning.

At Symondsbury Primary School, we seek to ensure that all pupils in our school are educated to develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to enable them to better understand themselves and others and to cope with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of living in a rapidly changing, multicultural world. Regular assemblies and celebrations of religious and non-religious festivals and events, implemented alongside weekly R.E. lessons, will help to celebrate the diversity of the wider community and promote positive images of people, including their beliefs, traditions, culture, language and history.

In summary, religious education for children and young people:

provokes challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, and religious traditions that examine these questions, fostering personal reflection and spiritual development

encourages pupils to explore their own beliefs (whether they are religious or non-religious), in the light of what they learn, as they examine issues of religious belief and faith and how these impact on personal, institutional and social ethics; and to express their responses. This also builds resilience to anti-democratic or extremist narratives

enables pupils to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society  teaches pupils to develop respect for others, including people with different faiths and beliefs, and helps to challenge prejudice

prompts pupils to consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society. It encourages empathy, generosity and compassion.

Religious Education the non-statutory guidance

re statement of entitlement for church schools.pdf

RE Progression grids

Please click here to see the progression on RE subjects across the school.

RE progression across the school

RE Policy

Please click here to read our RE policy