Religious Education at Worthington Primary School

R.E. is part of the basic curriculum. The planning, sequencing and intent used at Worthington School are according to the Leicester Agreed Syllabus for RE (2021-2026)

Intent

At Worthington School we strive to create a nurturing ethos which encourages our children to be open-minded, curious and inquisitive. All of which is reflected in our teaching of Religious Education.

The principal aim of our R.E is to discover what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, allowing our pupils to gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living. This in turn will enable them to be accepting of others, articulate and have a greater understanding of society.

Implementation:

The children will take part in weekly R.E lessons, and the agreed syllabus followed at Worthington sets out experiences, opportunities and appropriate topics for children from Reception to Year 6. Differing year groups have chosen and been allocated units of work to study to ensure development of skills and adequate coverage to meet the aims of RE. The teaching and learning approach adopted within the syllabus has three core elements, which are woven together to give breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs. They are making sense of beliefs, making connections and understanding the impact created by such beliefs. All three of which form part of every Religious Education lesson, balanced in a way that suits the religion, concept and question being explored. Our teaching involves enquiry, reflection, hands-on experience and will include: Visits to places of worship, meeting people from different faith groups, handling religious artefact, using visual aids -photos etc, exploring stories from religious and secular traditions, and most importantly discussion within classes and groups.

The threefold aims of RE (attainment targets) are:

1-To make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs

2- To understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs

3-To make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied,

The agreed syllabus lists in detail the skills to achieve each of one of these aims.

Development of Skills

Progress in RE is dependent on the application of the skills of:

Enquiring, analysing, evaluating, appraising, explaining, recalling, retelling, expressing, synthesizing, observing, responding to, researching, applying knowledge, investigating and discussing.

These curriculum skills are central to RE and all teachers plan to enable pupils to make progress in them throughout their time at Worthington school.

Festivals

To ensure all children feel valued we need to consider our school population and acknowledge and celebrate a range of religious festivals, sharing the experience of our children and making them feel valued.

Assemblies

Assemblies tackle moral issues, strive to engender community cohesion, celebrate festivals and cultures and increase self-worth and sense of belonging. We raise money for different causes and charities throughout the year.

Resources

We have a selection of books for teachers in the RE cupboard as well as bibles and Qu’rans for children to use. We also have a well-stocked library. All children have access to computers and use sites suggested by the Leicestershire syllabus which give interesting facts and videos to enhance their learning.

Community links

We have a good relationship with our local Church. The children have greatly benefited from visits e.g., to a synagogue, a gurdwara and a mandir in recent years.

The Unit for each term is outlined below. For further information on each unit, please look at the Termly Learning Overview for each year group, within the class section.

2022 / 2023 - Year 1

2023 / 2024 - Year 2

Foundation Stage

Key Stage One

1.3 and 1.5 are split across the two years

Lower Key Stage Two

Upper Key Stage Two