R.E

At St Nicholas C of E Primary School, RE plays an important role in expressing the Christian vision of the school. RE reflects the ethos and values that are held and promotes understanding of people of all faiths and none. RE has the same high status as any other subject and contributes to the overall development of our children from all backgrounds and traditions.

Our Legal Position

Every maintained school in England must provide a basic curriculum (RE, sex education and the National Curriculum). This includes provision for RE for all registered pupils at the school (including those in the sixth form), except for those withdrawn by their parents (see paragraph below).  As a voluntary controlled school, RE is therefore taught in accordance with the Locally Agreed Syllabus, (Click here to see the scheme overview) while also reflecting the requirements of the Statement of Entitlement published by the Education Office of the Church of England in February 2019. The statutory section 48 (SIAMS) inspection will evaluate the way that RE contributes to the Christian character of the school and the teaching of RE will reflect this requirement.

The purpose of our RE Scheme of Work is to give children from EYFS through to Year 6 a coherent picture of Christian worldviews and a range of other worldviews as appropriate to the Locally Agreed Syllabus.

It takes children on a journey through a range of concepts driven by three core strands:

• Beliefs and questions,
• Community and identity 
• Reality and truth.

These strands will create connections between substantive and the disciplinary knowledge, and the units will include opportunities for the development of personal knowledge.

The aim is to develop curiosity in children and equip them for future learning, as well as enabling them to make sense of the complex world of religious and non-religious worldviews.

Beliefs and questions will focus on theology, looking at the core beliefs and diverse interpretations of text, symbols and teachings of the chosen religions and worldviews.

Community and identity will focus on Human and Social Science and using data and other sources to examine practices and human expressions of religious and non-religious beliefs.

Reality and truth will focus on philosophy and ethics, looking at how people decide what is true and reliable drawing on the worldviews covered in the other units.

 

It is in these units that children will have the opportunity to explore the wider concept of what a worldview is and how people reach these ideas. As a school, we consider how these strands help us to express our school’s distinctive Christian vision and adapt as required. 

 

Implementation

Our scheme of work has units of work written by teachers, working in collaboration with RE experts and funded by Bayne Benefaction.

The units focus on the core content and the disciplinary lens appropriate to that unit.

Prior learning and future learning will be included to ensure that every lesson is clearly part of the overall aim. Depth will be developed largely, but not exclusively, through the teaching of Christian worldviews. Within each year group, the concepts explored in the 'worldviews units' will link with the Christianity units, as well as developing ideas from the previous year’s teaching.

 Reference is also made in the scheme overview to the proposed Statement of Entitlement.  The choice of worldviews to be covered will vary according to the Locally Agreed Syllabus.  Questions and content are altered accordingly to meet the needs of all of the learners we cater for.

 

Impact

Children will grow their knowledge and understanding and be able to give an age-appropriate, coherent account of Christianity and the other worldviews covered.

They will be able to ask questions, use a range of sources and skills to explore the traditions taught and have developed curiosity about how and why people think and act.

They will know that there is more to learn about religious and nonreligious worldviews and have developed the skills to research further. Children will understand that there are different ways of interpreting texts, and that different people reach different conclusions about what is true, good, right, and wrong.

Outcomes, progression, and improvement evidence will inform future planning to ensure that every child has access to a full and balanced RE Curriculum.