COLDEAN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Enriched vocabulary

“Sticky” knowledge

Creative and critical thinking

Wellbeing

Aspiration

Children are introduced to Religious Education in the Early Years through learning about celebrations and festivals. This links with the Early Learning Goals of comparing similarities and differences between themselves and other people in the community. In addition, there is opportunity for listening to a variety of stories with a key religious or moral focus (e.g The boy who cried wolf, the parable of the lost coin). Children have the opportunity to retell stories they have heard, through role-play and small world within the classroom environments.  Early Years Practitioners use observation to assess children’s understanding of celebrations and festivals through conversations with the children and how these are linked to their own lives and family circumstances. Tapestry is used to capture these learning experiences, as do our ‘Floorbooks’.

Further up the school in Key Stages 1 and 2, we provide a challenging and robust curriculum based upon the Discovery RE Scheme of Work that adheres to the agreed Brighton and Hove syllabus for Religious Education.

Clearly defined ‘key questions for enquiry’ and progression of ‘key Religions facts’ are evidenced on our 'RE Long Term Plan’. Successive years build on explicit knowledge, skills and understanding. Finer detail of the precise knowledge, skills and understanding through the school is also captured on our RE ‘Long Term plan with its clearly defined lists of explicit vocabulary and focus on key people, customs and celebrations and knowledge for each Religion covered. 

Teachers are creative and experienced in adapting the suggested plans to meet the needs and interests of their class and to ensure lessons are practical with the opportunity to explore a range of sources including artefacts, websites and texts.  The Discovery Scheme of work is an enquiry-based model which year upon year builds upon children’s knowledge and critical thinking skills. 

Each topic or theme poses a key question for enquiry which demands an answer that weighs up ‘evidence’ (subject knowledge) and reaches a conclusion based on this.

This necessitates children using their subject knowledge and applying it to the enquiry question, rather than this knowledge being an end in itself. Discovery RE focuses on critical thinking skills, on personal reflection into the child’s own thoughts and feelings, on growing subject knowledge and nurturing spiritual development. Through RE we teach the children about the different beliefs of people around the world. We do not: 

• re-enact religious ceremonies
• teach any activities that would compromise pupils own religious beliefs
• belittle the beliefs of others.

While the Discovery scheme provides knowledge that needs to be shared with the pupils, other resources are to be used in lessons (e.g religious artefacts, religious books/texts/stories (including digital RE books on the Network), ‘Jesus through art etc.

Teachers have access to an online community that supports planning and subject knowledge. The Community Area provides a bank of creative ideas coupled with appropriately challenging higher-order-thinking questions and discussion activities, including “Background Knowledge” information sheets which enhance each enquiry. These support teachers to feel more confident in their own subject knowledge, which in turn allows them to extend the learning of the children, particularly those working at greater depth. RE resources are kept in the PPA room for staff to access at any time to support planning.

Primary children are assessed in their understanding of different religions – beliefs, practices and worship (AT1) and also their ability to engage with questions and express their beliefs in response to this (AT2).

In Key Stages 1 and 2 this will take the form of ‘knowledge notes’. These are to ensure essential information is kept together and children are taught to forge connections between their current learning and the ‘big picture’ of subject content.

Religious Education subject leaders will review the use of these knowledge notes in RE books/ booklets as well as using pupil voice and conferencing to understand children’s knowledge and recall and ensure consolidation of information from working memory to long-term memory. This will also ensure continuity and progression through the school.