Religious Education

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Religious Education is an essential part of a child’s development building on their worldly experience, growing awareness of themselves and their relationship with others and the natural world.

We want our children to develop a secure understanding of different religions and aim to promote curiosity and a love of learning through enquiry based objectives. We also aim to promote a sense of awe and wonder and to allow children to explore their own beliefs and spirituality.

Through Religious Education, we will develop pupils’ respect for all, educating our children to be tolerant and valued members of the community and the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic nature of today’s society. Our R.E. curriculum supports our children to develop their own set of values and challenge negative opinions and actions, recognising diversity, respecting other’s viewpoints and developing tolerance of others outside of their community.

Our curriculum follows the Cumbria Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (SACRE). It is planned and sequenced to develop deep, lasting learning and builds upon prior knowledge, which our children can use today, tomorrow and for the rest of their lives.

Christianity and the Christian tradition play a central role in our curriculum. In KS1 they are also taught about Islam adding Hinduism in KS2.

The following skills are used, in order to strengthen the skills and deepen the understanding and knowledge taught: investigating, reflecting, recalling and retelling, exploring, discussing and empathising. Visits to places of worship, and visitors representing different religions provide a variety of first-hand experiences for our children, to spark their interest and relate new learning to their own experience.

Assemblies take place across the whole school and in classes; these are delivered by senior leaders, class teachers and our local clergy. They take various shapes and forms. We hold whole school ‘celebration’ assemblies where individual and group achievements are presented to be shared by the school community. Others are devoted to topical items, moral issues, our school values and religious studies.

Our RE curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression.

The children make progress by knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more transferring and embedding key concepts into their long-term memory.

Children will make at least good progress from their last point of assessment.

We measure the impact of our curriculum in the following ways:

Children demonstrate a positive attitude towards people of any religion and show an understanding of cultural beliefs different to their own.

They demonstrate respectful behaviour to all and this is transferable outside of school in the wider community and beyond.
Assessing children’s understanding of each unit’s linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
Images and videos of the children’s learning.
Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
Pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
Marking of written work in books.

Religious Education is an essential part of children’s general development, building on their experience and growing awareness of themselves and their relationship with others and with the natural world.

Our aim is to promote a sense of awe and wonder and to allow children to explore their own beliefs and spirituality. The children are made aware of the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic nature of today’s society. Christianity and the Christian tradition play a central role in the Religious Education Curriculum. The Religious Education curriculum is based upon the Agreed Syllabus for Cumbria, which enables the children to be made aware of a second religion – Islam – and a further religion in Key Stage 2 – Hinduism.

The Education Acts of 1944 and 1988 give parents the right to withdraw their children from Religious Education sessions, if they do not agree with the school’s approach to this subject.
The school complies with the 1988 Education Reform Act. We are not affiliated to any religious denomination. However, representatives of local churches are invited, from time to time, to take assemblies and participate in Religious Education. Visits are made to local places of worship. Parents are notified on these occasions and may withdraw their children from such events.

Assembly

There is a form of collective worship for all children at some time during every school day and the children are given the opportunity of regularly participating in class and year group assemblies.

Assembly takes various shapes and forms. We hold whole school “Celebration” assemblies, where individual and group achievements are presented to be shared and praised by the whole school. A range of assemblies are taken by either the Headteacher, local clergy or other members of staff and are devoted to topical items, moral issues and religious studies.

Teachers take it in turn to hold class assemblies in which the children take part, and parents are welcomed too.

Community

As a school, we regularly participate in community events and activities, often linked to the work of the local Churches, community groups and the Western Dales Community Mission.

For Remembrance, children wrote from the perspective of men and women involved in the war effort. The children reflected on the experiences of these people and the impact their sacrifice made on our lives in the modern world.

Curriculum Progression Grid R.E. 2 Year Curriculum Overview Subject in Action

Religious Education

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