Religious Education at Lydgate
Intent
In Religious Education (RE), children discover, explore and consider different answers to thought provoking questions, in local, national and global contexts. Through learning about different religions and other world views, they learn to appraise the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response, and to agree or disagree respectfully. This process should develop an aptitude for dialogue in our children so that they can participate positively in society with a good understanding of life from religious and other world views.
We follow and adapt the Kirklees locally agreed syllabus – Believing and Belonging - which is reviewed every five years. From Sept 2024, we have been following the new RE curriculum which had a comprehensive review in 2023-24.
The aims of RE in our school reflect the three aims of the syllabus for pupils:
- To investigate the beliefs and practices of religions and other world views.
- To investigate how religions and other world views address questions of meaning, purpose and value.
- To investigate how religions and other world views influence morality, identity and diversity.
Click here for the Kirklees 2024 Locally Agreed Syllabus on Believing and Belonging
RE is taught regularly throughout the school, beginning in Reception, and these lessons build up the children’s knowledge of different religions and world views. The religions covered are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hindu Dharma, Sikhi and Buddhism. We also cover non-religious viewpoints when we learn about Humanism. We establish cross curricular links where appropriate – for e.g. Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses.
The RE curriculum runs alongside our PSHE curriculum and we want to prepare our children for a meaningful life in modern Britain. This links with our British values around tolerance and mutual respect.
Reception – In our Early Years Setting, teaching and learning is focused around Understanding The World alongside the People, Cultures and Communities within it. The children will be taught about the main festivals that various religions celebrate, including Chinese New Year, Eid and Diwali, looking at some of the similarities and differences between them. This will be delivered through discussion, visiting speakers and enhanced provision activities. Children begin to learn about their own families as well as the people from different backgrounds who make up their community. They learn about how to care for other people as well as their environment.
The Early Learning Goals for People, Communities and Cultures are:
· Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
· Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
· Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and (when appropriate) maps.
Reception - Understanding the World
Key Stage 1 and 2 - As the children move up through school, the children learn more extensively about different religions through the following pathways:
Pathway 1 – Nature of Religion and Belief
Pathway 2 – Expressing Beliefs
Pathway 3 – A Good Life
Pathway 4 – Personal Journey
Pathway 5 – Influence and Authority
Pathway 6 – The Big Picture
Click here for the PATHWAY DESCRIPTORS
We find out the similarities between religions and also how they can be unique.
In KS1, children are exposed to different religions and begin to understand that some objects are considered sacred.
In LKS2, children identify shared characteristics and different traditions and in UKS2, children learn that different religions are made up of several sub groups, each with slightly different beliefs and traditions.
In KS1, LKS2 and UKS2, the units are taught in a two year cycle.
Click here for the LONG TERM PLAN Cycle 1 and Cycle 2
Click here for the PROGRESSION OF PATHWAY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Implementation
In Reception, RE is mainly covered through the English lessons through identified themes.
In KS1 and KS2, RE is timetabled for two half days every half term to cover all the units and is usually taught by the class teacher. In every lesson, the sequence of lessons is established, prior knowledge recapped and key vocabulary shared. The key knowledge and skills for the lessons are identified in the planning and progression established.
The RE lessons are well resourced and these are regularly audited.
We organise visits to enhance their RE experience. We have invited rabbis, imams and vicars into school who have also led whole school assemblies.
We celebrate Christmas and Eid every year and mark key festivals from other religions in whole school assemblies.
Monitoring - Regular pupil interviews are conducted by the subject lead to evaluate learning against intent. The subject lead also observes a sample of lessons through school and carries out a work scrutiny, where appropriate, to ensure parity and progression. Through the monitoring process, next steps are identified and shared in staff meetings.
Impact
At the end of every unit, staff assess the children for the unit covered and the data updated every half term onto a tracker. This is accessible to all staff including the Subject Lead.
Lessons show a clear progression of skills and knowledge as laid out in the progression document.
Pupil interviews show that the children are able to articulate their learning and use subject specific vocabulary. Pupils are usually picked by the subject lead based on the assessment tracker.
Lesson observations show that staff are confident in delivering the curriculum.
Children are knowledgeable about different religions and respectful towards people of different faiths or those who have different viewpoints.