Subject Leader: Mr I Owen

Intent

“What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what no human mind has perceived the things God has prepared for them.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 

Heene Church of England Primary School strives to ensure all children achieve their God given potential where ‘Together in faith, we love, grow and learn’. Our RE curriculum is part of the vehicle through which we demonstrate our vision in action through our core values (respect, curiosity, kindness, resilience, hope and confidence). As a distinctively Christian school, our aim for Religious Education is to develop children’s understanding and beliefs on what it means to live out a truly meaningful life guided by God. We respect each child as an individual and encourage children to develop their confidence to share their own deeply held beliefs and ideas with their peers. Our RE curriculum focuses on a range of religions and worldviews which reflect the diversity we have in our school community. We foster community and collaboration so that learning and respect can be achieved together, whilst building positive relationships both inside and outside the classroom. We provide children with opportunities to reflect on their own beliefs and values and encourage them to think critically about the world around them so that they can grow spiritually and morally. Kindness is developed through children becoming courageous advocates and using their learning to make meaningful changes in the local and wider community that express their hopes and desires discovered through the process of their learning. They will become lifelong learners who are hopeful, resilient and have the confidence to express their own belief system, moral compass and understanding of the world around them. Learning also takes places outside of the classroom so that children gain a unique perspective into the cultures of others and explore the core beliefs of global living faiths. Their curiosity is fostered through unpicking, answering and debating life’s Big Questions within a creative, reflective, purposeful and ambitious RE curriculum that excites children through awe and wonder. 

Implementation

We make use of an enquiry approach within our RE teaching and learning. Each module revolves around a central ‘big question’ which pupils respond to at the end of a topic, with a series of smaller enquiry questions as assessment points for individual lessons.  

A spiral curriculum has been organised with levels of both horizontal and vertical progression across a range of faiths. In the final term, new content is introduced and children use their comparison skills to compare previously taught topics to answer their enquiry question. 

Questioning within lessons forms the basis of teaching and learning within Religious Education at Heene primary. When planning RE, our question matrix is used to ensure an enquiry approach towards RE is used with a key focus on oracy. ABC sentence stems are used to encourage whole class discussion between members of the classroom. 

In every lesson, children will be given the opportunity to reflect on how the learning of religious beliefs, practices and ethical questions apply to their own lives by answering a reflection question. These are not a challenge, but a fundamental part of the learning process. 

In line with our policy on Teaching and Learning, retrieval takes place at the beginning of all lessons, so that new learning can be built on in small steps.  

Knowledge organisers are used throughout all topics. These provide stimulus pictures that cover key parts of study to generate discussion and the tier 2 and 3 vocabulary that is covered within the topic. Teachers encourage children to use these and refer to them throughout the topic studied.  

To make religious education a lively, active subject, we employ a variety of teaching methods including art, music, discussion, the development of thinking skills, drama, the use of artefacts, pictures, stories, and the use of periods of stillness and reflection in every lesson to encourage spiritual growth. Where possible, we want our pupils to have opportunities to encounter local faith communities through visits to local places of worship or visits from members of local faith communities. 

We recognise the unique power of cultivating awe and wonder and curiosity within Religious Education. We begin each topic with a key religious story and use Godly Play for most of our Christianity topics. High-quality artefacts such as sacred texts, ceremonial objects, clothing, symbols, or items associated with worship and celebration are used intentionally to deepen pupils’ engagement and understanding of diverse faith traditions whilst developing respect. Looking at examples of religious artwork is found in every year group and all children create their own piece of art to express their learning and point of view at the end of each topic.  

Impact

Children develop a sense of identity and belonging by exploring different faiths and worldviews. It encourages them to ask big questions, think critically and show respect for others, building the foundations for empathy and positive relationships in our diverse society.