Religious Education

We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race.

 Curriculum Intent

 The Richmond Agreed Religious Education (RE) syllabus (link below) believes RE should help children and young people to learn about and learn from religious and spiritual insights, beliefs and practices and shared morals and ethics. This embraces three key areas which are knowledge, skills and personal development. As children progress through school they frequently revisit previously taught concepts and knowledge and this is then built upon in the new unit of work. 

 https://richmond.gov.uk/media/18564/sacre_agreed_syllabus.pdf

 At Buckingham Primary School, we aim to give the children a knowledge of and a respect for both their own traditions and culture and those of others. RE teaching and learning within our school provides opportunities for:

• Age-appropriate development of knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other major world faiths and minority religions represented within Great Britain.
• Exploration of issues within and between faiths that helps pupils to understand and to respect different religions, beliefs, values and traditions and to understand the influence of these upon individuals, societies, communities and cultures.
• Consideration of questions that concern the meaning and purpose of life.
• Development of the ability to respond to religious and ethical teaching, enabling pupils to make reasoned and informed judgements on religious and moral issues.
• Development of pupils’ sense of identity and belonging in preparation for life as citizens in a multi-faith society.
• Through the evaluation of beliefs, values and practices, the development of enquiry and response skills that include the ability to listen, to reflect, to empathise and to communicate meaningfully.

 Early Years Foundation Stage 

The Teaching of RE begins formally in Year One, however, in the Early Years, children have the opportunity to learn about different religions and beliefs across the curriculum. As part of the Early Years Curriculum and in order to meet the Early Learning Goals, at Buckingham, children learn about different beliefs and ideas within their community and are encouraged to share their own.  They are also given the opportunity to explore different celebrations and commemorations across the year, celebrating different religious festivals such as Diwali and Easter.

 (Insert coverage of Understanding the World: People, Culture and Communities ELG)

Implementation

At Buckingham, each year group teaches a unit of RE each half term which is made up of five or six lessons and is based around a big key question. To help ensure we have a clearly sequenced RE curriculum across the school we have invested in a scheme, called PlanBee, which we use to support planning.

(Insert long term plan)

 Learning focuses on exploring beliefs and practices, considering personal reflections tied to each faith. Children discover beliefs in our community, the roles of leaders, rites of passage and how faith is expressed. They link lessons with their own experiences, developing crucial skills of acceptance and tolerance. Additionally, our study of British Values and diversity is closely connected to both RE and the values upheld in our school.

RE is formally assessed on a half-termly basis, following on from the completion of each unit of work. However, throughout the half term teachers use a variety of assessment activities including self and peer-assessment, project work with peers and talk for learning. Teachers can also assess pupils based on their responses to the big key question for that RE unit.