RE at Longshaw Infants

Intent:

The intent for the RE curriculum is to prepare pupils for success later in life living today's diverse society.

At Longshaw Community Infant School, we believe RE contributes significantly to this aspect of character education and enables them to develop sensitivity to, and respect for others. Through authentic encounters with living faith communities, pupils will develop diversity dexterity and be equipped with the ability to hold an informed conversation about religious beliefs and practices.

The principal aim of the Blackburn with Darwen agreed syllabus for RE is to engage learners in systematic enquiry into significant human questions which religion and worldwide views address, so that they can develop the understanding and skills needed to appreciate and appraise varied responses to these questions, as well as develop responses of their own. The Blackburn with Darwen Agreed Syllabus for RE expands learners' perspectives through a range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural opportunities to promote their senses of moral and social responsibility which at Longshaw Infants underpins our own values. Our RE curriculum supports learners to live life in modern Britain and it provides the opportunity to explore world faiths. We want to teach our learners that RE is vital to aiding our understanding of the world in which we live today and which we will live in, in the future.

Implementation:

At Longshaw Community Infant School we follow the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education's RE syllabus - Questful RE. Pupils will experience, explore and encounter a wide range of creative and challenging multi-sensory activities that will help them to discover the answers to fundamental questions such as: 

• Who am I and what does it mean to be me?
• In what ways do/can I relate to others?
• How/where can I encounter God?
• How can I make a positive contribution to the world in which I live?
• What values, attitudes and behaviour are important to me?
• What does it mean to have faith?
• Who/what influences and inspires me?

Across the school, from Nursery to Year 2, pupils will have a discrete lesson of Religious Education per week. Time Allocation National guidance for the teaching of Religious Education states the expectation is that there is a minimum allocation of 5% of curriculum time for R.E

RE lessons will focus on Christianity – this being the majority religion taught. In addition to this, religious traditions from world faiths will be explored in depth. Rather than a study of the whole religion, pupils will explore an element of it. Therefore, there can be more depth to the learning, providing opportunities to look at diversity within religions, identifying similarities and differences between religious and non-religious practices.

Lesson content includes the following worlds faiths; Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Not all faiths are studied in each unit, however, by the end of KS2, pupils will have encountered all of the religions, as well as non-religious traditions.

In addition to the RE curriculum, pupils will have daily collective worship, regular visits to places of worship and visits from key people linked to faith and / or leadership.

Throughout the RE curriculum, each unit has key questions throughout the learning process. The questions are designed to be thought provoking, challenging and philosophical. They are used to create conversations and to further encourage the children’s natural curiosity.

Impact:

The impact of our RE curriculum is measured through the monitoring cycle in school alongside our assessment procedures. This includes:

•  Lesson observations
• Book monitoring
• Learning walks
• Discussions with class teachers
• Discussions with pupils

Monitoring and assessment: information is used to measure whether:

ï Learners enjoy and are enthusiastic about Religious Education in our school.

ï There is a clear progression of learners’s work and teachers’ expectations in our school.

ï Learners’s work shows a range of topics and evidence of the curriculum coverage for all RE topics.

ï Learners are becoming increasingly curious in their questioning and thinking about religion and nonreligions.

ï Feedback from teachers has an impact on our pupils, often with next step questions to push learning on.

ï All learners are making progress, including EAL and SEND learners

Monitoring is also used to identify gaps in the curriculum that may need to be addressed across the school, or within individual year groups. Monitoring is an ongoing cycle, which is used productively to provide the best possible Science curriculum for our learners.

Recording of work :Throughout all year groups, we take a balanced approach to how learners demonstrate their understanding. In KS1 all children will record in books, however, whilst it is important to record and promote cross-curricular writing skills, we recognise that this demand creates a barrier for some learners when trying to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. As a result, we look to promote oracy throughout the curriculum. This may include learners verbally presenting work or creating class ‘Floor books’. Adult scribing where appropriate can further support this approach.

The Right to Withdraw

RE is a necessary part of a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’ and must be provided for all registered pupils in state-funded schools in England, unless withdrawn by their parents. The right to withdrawn from RE was first granted in 1944 when curricular RE was called ‘Religious Instruction’ and carried with it connotations of induction into the Christian faith. RE is very different now – open, broad and exploring a range of religious and non-religious worldviews. In the UK, parents still have the right to withdraw their children from RE on the grounds that they wish to provide their own RE. This provision will be the parents’ responsibility. This right of withdrawal exists for all pupils in all types of school, including schools with and without a religious designation. Should you wish to withdraw your child/children from RE lessons at Longshaw Community Infant School, please contact the headteacher. Contact details for doing so can be found on the ‘About Us’ tab on our school website

Curriculum Overview:

Nursery objectives:

Reception Objectives:

Year 1 Objectives:

Year 2 Objectives: