Approaches to Religious Education

Religious Education Intent, Implementation and Impact Statemement

Intent

At Crofton Junior School, we believe that it is important for all of our pupils to learn about and from religion so that they can interpret and understand the world around them. We aim to deliver a creative approach to Religious Education that enables pupils to think and talk about their own ideas, religious beliefs and values while also evaluating the responses of other people to important moral issues with a religious dimension. Our pupils are encouraged to be curious and to ask increasingly challenging questions about religion, belief, values and human life, encouraging their awareness of their own beliefs and building a positive attitude to the search for meaning and purpose in life.

The Principal aim of RE at our school is to engage pupils in systematic enquiry into significant human questions which religion and worldviews 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.

By the end of KS2, our teaching and learning of RE should enable pupils to…

• Know and understand a range of religions and worldviews

• Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews

• Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and world views.

Our whole school ethos is to encourage children to inquire and ask questions in order to impact on and enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Religious Education provokes challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, beliefs about what us right and wrong and what it means to be human.

Children will exhibit their religious education in many ways, from art, music, creative design, writing and role-play in order to fully immerse children in their understanding of a topic. Visits and meetings, with people of faith, are arranged in order to provide children with experiences that create a rich ‘cultural capital’.

Implementation

RE must be provided for all registered pupils in state-funded schools in England. Crofton Junior School use the Wakefield Agreed Syllabus as a basis for our curriculum.

This curriculum involves teaching Religious Education using carefully selected units throughout the year, which build upon previous learning, knowledge and skills developed in earlier years and units. Each unit is built around a key question which opens up the content to be studied. These questions are applied to local, national and global contexts, encouraging tolerance, understanding and respect so that the children can develop the skills needed to appreciate the varied responses to these questions whilst also developing responses of their own. Children are taught to think about their own school and personal values and to understand how people of different backgrounds or beliefs may share similar values whilst differing in other values.

During the key stage, pupils are taught knowledge, skills and understanding through learning about Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jewish people. Pupils may also encounter other religions and worldviews in thematic units (e.g. Humanists, Buddhists). Units are carefully selected to enable coherence and progression throughout KS2. In addition, opportunities to make links with other learning (e.g. PSHE) are built into the lessons so that there is a cohesive approach to the pupils’ study.

Three units are taught across every year group and each unit will address one of the following key strands:

Believing - Religious beliefs, teachings, sources; questions about meaning, purpose and truth

Expressing - Religious and spiritual forms of expression; questions about identity and diversity

Living - Religious practices and ways of living; questions about values and commitments

The three strands will be covered by every year group to ensure breadth and depth of learning and to ensure that the children are able to achieve the end of KS2 outcomes. Within each unit, tasks are carefully selected to encourage creativity and opportunities to reflect on their learning, expressing views of others and their own views.

Impact

Outcomes in topic books and through the children’s developing ability to question, debate and reflect on their learning, demonstrates their achievement of the key outcomes relating to each of the three strands.

Attitudes such as nurture, inspire and respect are fostered at Crofton Junior School and developed through the teaching of our Religious Education syllabus. As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge of key religions and beliefs, while also being able to distinguish between opinion, belief and fact. They are able to draw conclusions, which are balanced and related to evidence, dialogue and experience, while also making thoughtful judgements about the personal value of religious beliefs and practices. The children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is evidenced by their appreciation of human similarities and differences and an ability to communicate their views on these effectively and become global citizens.

The impact of the curriculum is monitored through a combination of discussions with pupils and staff, scrutiny of workbooks and lesson observations in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the quality of the curriculum and highlight areas for further development.