Killingholme Primary School

Our intent:

At Killingholme Primary, we promote a positive attitude to learning (based on our school vision of Partnerships + Potential + Performance = Success), encouraging our students to aspire to achieve their full potential by providing rich, motivational, purposeful and inspiring learning.

Our R.E. curriculum is underpinned by our locally Agreed R.E. Syllabus.

Through R.E. our students will develop religious literacy and knowledge of significant religions including Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Pupils will develop their abilities to articulate the beliefs and practices of the major religions and diversity within a religious community. They will be taught to value the religions and religious beliefs and practices of their peers as well as question thoughtfully, and to compare compassionately, in order to celebrate the diversity of thinking across the globe. We aim to teach our pupils about equality and to instil in them a tolerance, understanding and respect of all cultures, faiths, disabilities, and ways of life and living. Students will be taught to respect the rights of others to hold diverse opinions and participate in culturally different practices. Pupils will be able to defend ideas and/or practices with which they do not necessarily agree.  They will develop their ability to make morally based decisions, and to behave with respect and compassion to fellow citizens.

Our implementation:

Learning is embedded through the development of knowledge and skills over time. Our curriculum is based on the Lincolnshire agreed syllabus for Religious Education. At Killingholme Primary, the following religions have been selected for study:

• Christianity
• Islam
• Hinduism
• Humanism

KS1 - Christianity is studied (and one other principal religion in some depth)

KS2 – Christianity and Islam are studied (and two other principal religions in some depth)

Throughout each key stage, the learning deepens their understanding of different faiths.  Progression is mapped on the school overview for each year group.

Our Religious Education Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We value the religious background of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others freely. All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we value the links, which are, and can be made between home, school and our community.

At the beginning of each unit, children create a concept map, where they are able to write down any knowledge they currently know about the topic ahead. They then add and build upon this each week at the end of a lesson in green pen. This creates a working document, which the children have ownership of, to show the knowledge which has been learnt throughout the term. At the end of the unit, children are given an exit task to measure the progress. In addition to this, at the beginning of each lesson, a retrieval practise activity is given to the children about the previous weeks' learning to bring the knowledge back to the forefront. This is known to the children as ‘It’s Nothing New’. We use assessment for learning to ensure all lessons are relevant and will help to plan for next steps.

Child speak values mats can be found in the front of RE subject books and these ensure children not only know what they are learning, but also the values they are learning when studying religion.

Subject co-ordinators are given regular time to ensure resources are kept up to date, to monitor subjects across the school, create action plans and provide subject feedback to SLT as appropriate. Subject leads once a term will also generate a standards report, based on the teacher's assessment of students over the term. This will inform their next steps in their subject.

The Impact:

The impact of our approach to RE is that our students carry with them a rich wealth of knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the many differences between religions, what makes them unique, and what it is that we can admire and learn from them. In addition to the knowledge behind this, students will have also greatly developed the associated skills, such as understanding the practices and daily routines involved with various religions, or understanding the key teachings of various religions.

As students’ progress through our school, the delivery of the RE curriculum will:

• develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity as well as other principal religions and world views focus on concepts as well as content, within the context of enquiry based learning
• explore authentic religious material, e.g. sacred texts
• reflect diversity in terms of the changing religious landscape of the UK (see 2011 census below) so that they are prepared for life in modern Britain
• engage and challenge pupils
• reflect pupils’ own experiences and provide a safe space for discussion
• present religious belief as a real, lived phenomenon, not something exotic or belonging to the past
• take into account the increase in the number of people with non-religious beliefs and identities
• provide opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development
• help to prepare pupils for adult life, enabling them to develop respect and sensitivity for others

The students’ learning journey at Killingholme Primary will develop key skills to support them with RE studies. In order to enhance learning, the following will be evident across key stages:

• Investigation and enquiry: asking relevant and increasingly deep questions; using a range of sources and evidence, including sacred texts; identifying and talking about key concepts.
• Critical thinking and reflection: analysing information to form a judgement; reflecting on beliefs and practices, ultimate questions and experiences.
• Empathy: considering the thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes, beliefs and values of others; seeing the world through the eyes of others.
• Interpretation: interpreting religious language and the meaning of sacred texts; drawing meaning from, for example, artefacts and symbols.
• Analysis: distinguishing between opinion, belief and fact; distinguishing between the features of different religions.