RE
Religious Education Intent
“Differences were meant not to divide, but to enrich” – J H Oldham
Through learning from and about religion, we want our children to become thoughtful, inquisitive, mindful and accepting individuals, who are able to demonstrate respect and an understanding of the people they meet, work and live alongside. Our Religious Education curriculum enables children to gain an insight into the religions that are reflected within Meadlands and our local community, and provides opportunities to discuss religion in a sensitive and respectful way. We see RE as a valuable opportunity for children to make connections between their own values and the values and beliefs of others.
Implementation
Religious Education is a non- core subject within the National Curriculum (2014), but must be taught and included in the curriculum for all registered children in school. All children are given the opportunity to cover the RE Curriculum relevant to their Key Stage and year group.
At Meadlands, we follow the local authority’s Agreed Syllabus for RE – created by the Richmond SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for RE). RE is taught in discrete units, allowing children to achieve a greater depth of understanding of Religion and the world around them. RE is also taught through our English curriculum, with all classes learning about significant Christians and about the moral teachings of religious stories as a part of their English units of learning.
We believe our RE lessons should not only develop children’s understanding of main world religions, but also those that reflect our local community. Christianity and Islam are therefore studied in greater depth than any other religion. The Richmond Agreed Syllabus also states that schools in Richmond upon Thames ‘should ensure that more material is drawn from Christianity within each Key Stage than from other single religions or belief systems’. Therefore, every year group learns about the Christian faith during the season of Advent and in preparation for Christmas.
Link to Richmond SACRE https://richmond.gov.uk/media/18564/sacre_agreed_syllabus.pdf
Learning across Key Stages
EYFS
Young children are naturally curious about the world and people around them, and so this is a vital time to begin to introduce important aspects of RE learning. In the Early Years, Religious Education is not taught as a discrete subject, however social, moral, spiritual and cultural teaching and learning is woven through all subjects and topics, and assessed within the Early Learning Goals of 'Understanding the World' and 'Personal, Social and Emotional Development'. Children in the Early Years are supported to understand and respect the differences between them and their peers - including in terms of communities, families, cultures and beliefs. As with all areas of our Early Years curriculum, this is taught using a cross-curricular approach throughout the year, both through adult-led activities and child-initiated play opportunities.
Key Stage 1
During this Key Stage, children develop knowledge, skills and understanding relating to the two main religions currently represented by families at Meadlands – Christianity and Islam – as well as being introduced to the Jewish faith. These three religions are studied in both year groups and are progressive in nature, allowing children to develop a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding.
Key Stage 2
During this Key Stage, children develop knowledge, skills and understanding through deeper enquiry into known religions, focusing on Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. In Year 6, children also encounter secular world views, through a Humanism study. Children in Years 5 and 6 also deepen their understanding through comparative religious studies.
Yearly overviews
All of our units are progression in nature and follow a horizontal and progressive 3 year learning journey.
First year: A religion is firstly introduced via stories and role play.
Second year: Children develop their understanding and awareness of this religion through a ‘Living the Faith’ unit.
Third year (only applicable in Key Stage 2): Children further deepen and broaden their knowledge through a ‘Places and Building’ unit. This always involves a trip to a place of worship and provides a real life context to learning.
Year | Unit 1 Living the faith Workshop/trip included | Significant Christians Covered in English | Unit 2 Living the faith | Religious stories Covered in English | Unit 3 Buildings and places Trip unit |
R | Who travelled to Bethlehem? | RE learning is taught through a cross-curricular and thematic provision | |||
1 | Why do people give presents at Christmas? Surrey
| Mother Teresa | What is important for Muslim families? | Learning from Jewish stories | NA |
2 | Why did the angels announce the birth of Jesus? | Marie Curie & Tabatha | Why do Jewish families celebrate Sabbath? | Learning from Islamic stories | NA |
3 |
What might Jesus think of Christmas today? | Hildegard of Bingen | What are the pillars of Islam? | Learning from Sikh stories | How can a synagogue help use to understand the Jewish faith? |
4 |
How can artists help us understand Christmas ?
| St. Francis of Assai | What does it mean to be Sikh? | Learning from Hindu stories | How can a Mosque help us to understand the Muslim faith? |
5 |
Why is light an important sign at Christmas | William Wilberforce |
| Learning from Buddhist stories Standalone unit | How can a Gurdwara help us to understand the Sikh faith? |
6 |
What do the Gospels say about the Birth of Jesus and why is it good news? | Dietrich Bonhoeffer |
Standalone unit | Comparing stories from different religions
| How can a Mandir help us to understand the Hindui faith? |
| Christianity |
| Islam |
| Judaism |
| Hinduism |
| Sikhism |
Religious Heroes
For each unit of computing taught, we celebrate the lives of individuals who have made a difference. Here are just a few of our RE Heroes:
SIGNIFICANT INDIVIDUALS
Examples of Work
Year 1
Cultural Capital
Assemblies
We use weekly SMSC assemblies as another avenue to learn about religions and spiritual teachings, and to celebrate our diverse community. Our assemblies may introduce religions that are not covered in the class curriculum, and are used as a platform for discussion and exploration of religious festivals and celebrations that happen throughout the year. We welcome people (children, families and visitors from the community) from different religious groups to visit Meadlands and share their beliefs and practices with the children
Visitors
During our ‘Living the Faith’ units, at least one lesson is dedicated to question and answer sessions with people from that religious group. Children from other classes, school families or visitors from the local community are invited to come and share knowledge and experiences of their religion with the class, and to respond to the children’s pre-prepared questions.
Trips
At Meadlands we recognise the importance of learning about religion from religious experiences. Therefore through trips to places of worship, we provide our children the opportunity to talk and learn from religious people. All children participate at least one trip to a Christian place of worship and in Key Stage 2 a supplementary trip to another religious place of worship
Year 3 – Synagogue
Year 4 – Kingston Mosque
Year 5 - Ealing Gurdwara
Year 6 – Neasden Temple
Impact
Through their RE lessons and the completion of our RE curriculum, children of all ages will
- Know more, remember more and understand more about a range of religions and belief systems.
- Be able to articulate their own views about religion and make links between their own lives and those of other in the community and the wider world.
- Feel valued as individuals and know that their beliefs are valued and celebrated.
- Feel safe to share their own beliefs with others in an accepting environment.
- Leave Meadlands and be able to demonstrate mutual respect, empathy and tolerance of those around them.
- Be equipped to live in an inclusive society.
Celebration of good work
Hanukah assembly created by Year 4 child.