All of our pupils will learn the necessary skills and knowledge in RE to enable them to foster an appreciation of all religions and worldviews, including those adopted by the pupils in our school. Through engaging lessons and experiences, they will develop an appreciation of the beliefs of others and learn to respect and understand them.
This will help them to foster healthy relationships with others in their lives, who may hold different beliefs to them, but whom they can still understand and respect. They will develop their ability to think about the big questions in life that religions seek to answer and analyse their own beliefs and thinking.
Our pupils will also learn which religions are represented in our local town and the surrounding area, through local visits to places of worship and engaging with visitors from different faith groups. This will add to their cultural capital and widen their experience of the world in which they live. Each unit follows a sequenced and progressive scheme of work so that it can be tracked and assessed, which will help the pupils to retain and revise their knowledge and place it within the context of their prior learning.
The RE curriculum is based on The Doncaster SACRE Agreed Syllabus for RE published in 2018. Pupils in Key Stage 1 and 2 will learn more about Christianity and Judaism, and start to learn about Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Humanism. Other units, within Key Stage 2, such as, ‘Worship Across Religions, ‘Peace Across Religion’ ‘Justice and Faith’ and ‘People of Faith’ will provide opportunities to show similarities and differences between religions and utilise the knowledge that our pupils have about the world’s major religions. In Key Stage 3, pupils in Year 7 and Year 8 will build on their prior knowledge to the main world religions and look in depth at The Bible; Old and New Testament, Sikhism and Islam. The Year 9s will cover various units under the theme Religion and Ethics.
RE lessons will be planned and taught, generally on a weekly basis, in a variety of ways, ensuring that all pupils can access and participate in lessons. Interactive, practical activities will encourage the pupils to discuss their ideas and extend their understanding of difficult concepts and challenging questions. Knowledge and skills will be built on from previous years, as outlined above. Uses of religious artefacts will also enhance the pupil’s experience and understanding. The subject will be supplemented through visits to local places of worship, visiting speakers and WOW days/experiences.
Assessment of the subject will be matched through the skills and knowledge outlined in the RE progression document and monitored through book scrutinies, learning enquiry walks, discussions with colleagues and the views of the pupils via ‘pupil voice. By the end of Key Stage 1, the pupils will be aware that some people have religious beliefs which impact the way that they live their lives. They will know about some of those beliefs and practices and start to make links between them and their own beliefs and actions. They will be encouraged to be respectful of other beliefs and practices, in line with our school values, and seek to understand them.
By the end of Key Stage 2, the pupils will have a good foundational knowledge of the 6 major religions of the world and a fair understanding of the world view of Humanism. They should be able to draw comparisons between religious beliefs and practices, as well as begin to question their own beliefs, expressing their points of view, whilst respecting the views and opinions of others. They should also be equipped with the skills to further study the subject in Key Stage 3 where they will explore further the key questions and controversial matters that arises within belief and faith.
