R.E

Purpose of the Curriculum

(What will a high quality R.E education do for our children?)

Generate a natural curiosity for the meaning and purpose of life.
Equip pupils with knowledge of god whilst creating understanding of world religions and harbour a degree of respect and tolerance towards all religions, beliefs and traditions.
To offer opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development not only with R.E but in all areas of life.
To understand right and wrong.
To enhance pupils’ awareness of different religious teaching, practices and forms of expression.

Aim of the Curriculum

(What does the R.E curriculum aim to ensure all pupils know or can do?)

Appreciate the distinctive nature of religion within human experience (regular visits to places of worship each year) and develop a personal sense of meaning in life.
Appreciate the way in which religious beliefs shape life and how these beliefs contribute to personal morality and social responsibility.
Develop a knowledge and understanding of the other principal religions found in the United Kingdom and their associated ways of living.
Have respect for all people and their right to hold, or not to hold, religious beliefs.
To understand and apply 5 main objectives: concepts, knowledge, attitudes, skills and human experience.

Key Stage 1 Curriculum Overview

Curriculum governed by 5 main objectives :

CONCEPTS -Pupils should:

be able to talk about God and about specific ways in which people show their belief in God;
be able to explore the difference between right and wrong and understand the importance of forgiveness;
be able to identify some religious symbols and begin to suggest meanings.

KNOWLEDGE - Pupils should:

be able to re-tell some religious stories;
be able to identify some specific religious festivals, practices and symbols;
be able to name or talk about some religious people.

ATTITUDES- Pupils should:

begin to value themselves, others and the world in which they live, recognising that they have responsibilities;
- be able to raise questions which show that they are developing an enquiring approach to life.

SKILLS- Pupils should:

be able to use a number of religious words;
be able to find simple information about religion and be aware that ideas are communicated in a variety of ways;
have begun to reflect upon their own experiences and those of others and express their own thoughts

HUMAN EXPERIENCE- Pupils should:

be able to recognise that people have a variety of life experiences;
- be able to recognise a range of emotions in themselves and others.

Key Stage 2 Curriculum Overview

CONCEPTS -Pupils should:

be able to talk about God and identify the influence of religion in the lives of believers;
be able to discuss moral questions;
be able to understand and discuss the significance of symbols.

KNOWLEDGE – Pupils should:

be able to retell a range of religious stories and identify their sources;
know some elements of religions and moral teachings;
be able to describe a number of people of faith;
be able to describe a number of religious festivals, practices and symbols.

ATTITUDES - Pupils should:

be able to show how they value themselves, others and the world around them and explain their responsibilities;
be able to show they are developing an enquiring approach to life by raising deeper questions.

SKILLS - Pupils should:

be able to understand and use a growing religious vocabulary;
be able to investigate using a variety of sources and to recognise the importance of literature as a form of religious expression;
be able to reflect upon their own experience and that of others and to express their own thoughts with confidence

HUMAN EXPERIENCE- Pupils should:

be able to respond sensitively to their own and others' life experiences;
be able to recognise the range of emotions in themselves and others and begin to understand their causes.

Key Stage 1 Objectives

CONCEPTS -

Concept of God: about the words and images that some believers use to talk about God and to explore their own ideas of what God might be like;
Belief: about the importance of religion to believers.
Morality: the difference between right and wrong;
Forgiveness: about the need to give and receive forgiveness.
Symbols: about the significance of certain symbols.

ATTITUDES-

Respect and Self Respect: to value themselves and others as unique human beings;
Integrity: to be honest about their feelings and actions;
Social Awareness: to care for each other;
Social Responsibility: to develop an awareness of their own capacity to help others;
Forgiveness: to appreciate the need to give and receive forgiveness;
Sensitivity: to recognise the importance of others’ feelings;
Tolerance: to develop a respect for people and their beliefs;
Ecological Responsibility: to respect and care for their natural world;
Enquiry: to be curious and encouraged to ask their own questions

HUMAN EXPERIENCE-

Emotions: to recognise a range of emotions;
Daily Experiences: to consider their own feelings and those of others in relation to life experiences
Fundamental Questions: to be curious;
Morality: to be aware that people are not all treated equally.
Relationships: to become aware of a sense of self and to develop relationships with others
Spirituality: to respond in awe and wonder to their experiences of life;

SKILLS-

Language: to recognise that religion has a language of its own and to begin to use religious words.
Use of Language: to begin to recognise and explore different kinds of writing, eg: religious narrative, psalms;
Use of Sources: to use a variety of sources providing information about religion.
Creative Arts: to begin to recognise the use of the creative arts in expressing religious ideas.
Reflection: to think about their own experiences and consider those of others;
Empathy: to enter imaginatively into the experience of others;
Self Expression: to begin to express feelings, opinions and beliefs in a variety of ways

KNOWLEDGE –

Sacred Writings: some religious stories, including selected stories from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
Prayer: about some of the ways in which people pray, including The Lord’s Prayer;
Worship: about the ways in which people worship in the local community;
Celebration: about some religious festivals and celebrations including family ceremonies;
Symbols: about some religious symbols, including the Cross.
Faith: about people whose faith in God makes them special.

Key Stage 2 OBJECTIVES

CONCEPTS -

Concept of God: about the variety of ways in which religious people express their concepts of God and to explore their own ideas of what God might be like;
Belief: about the influence of religion on the lives of believers;
The Spiritual Dimension: to appreciate that there is a spiritual dimension to life;
Commitment: why some people commit themselves to God and respond in prayer, worship and service.
Morality: about the nature of moral dilemmas;
Forgiveness: about the nature of forgiveness and its potential for resolving conflict.
Symbols: about the meaning of a range of symbols.

ATTITUDES-

Respect and Self Respect: to value themselves, give due worth to other people, appreciating that relationships involve response and responsibility;
Integrity: to value truth and be open about their feelings, attitudes and actions;
Social Awareness: to be aware of the needs of others;
Social Responsibility: to develop an awareness of their own capacity to contribute to the well-being of others in their family, school and community;
Forgiveness: to appreciate the need to give and receive forgiveness;
Sensitivity: to recognise the importance of others’ religious beliefs, practices and institutions;
Tolerance: to respect religion as an important element in human experience;
Ecological Responsibility: to wonder at and to respect the environment and to be aware of the need to conserve it.
Enquiry: to develop an enquiring approach to life and encouraged to ask their own questions.

HUMAN EXPERIENCE-

Emotions: to explain their emotions and the causes;
Daily Experiences: to explore their own and others’ everyday experiences;
Fundamental Questions: to raise and discuss questions of life and death;
Relationships: to appreciate that relationships involve responsibility and sensitivity;
Morality: to explore issues of equality and to relate them to their own experience
Spirituality: to be open to the mystery of life and the possibility of transcending the physical and the immediate

SKILLS-

Reflection: to reflect on their own and others’ life experiences;
Empathy: to grow in understanding of the experience of others;
Self-Expression: to pose questions and express their own ideas with confidence.
Use of Language: to explore a variety of religious literature, recognising varieties of form and purpose, eg: legend, myth, parable and allegory;
Use of Sources: to develop the ability to use a variety of primary and secondary sources;
Creative Arts: to recognise the use of the creative arts in expressing religious ideas.
Language: to develop the ability to use and understand the language of religion, including metaphor.

KNOWLEDGE -

Teaching and Authority: about significant elements of religious teachings, for example the Christian creed; The Buddhist Eight Fold Path.
Morality: about the moral principles by which believers live, for example the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the Buddhist Five Precepts.
Faith: about the effect of faith on the lifestyles of ordinary people;
People of Faith: about the lives of outstanding people of faith, including founders, and the actions of such people as expressions of faith.
Prayer: about the reasons for and the importance of prayer to believers; including The Lord’s Prayer;
Worship: about the places of worship of religious groups in the local and wider community;
Celebration: about the meanings of a range of religious festivals and celebrations including family ceremonies;
Symbolism: about the meaning of religious symbols
Sacred Writings: about the structure and content of the Bible, a range of material from it and a variety of other sacred writings;
The Importance of Sacred Writing: about the respect given to holy books by believers.

Knowledge or Skills relevant to our school

Key Stage 1

Language: to recognise that religion has a language of its own and to begin to use religious words.
Use of Language: to begin to recognise and explore different kinds of writing, eg: religious narrative, psalms;
Use of Sources: to use a variety of sources providing
Sensitivity: to recognise the importance of others’ feelings;
Tolerance: to develop a respect for people and their beliefs;
information about religion.
Creative Arts: to begin to recognise the use of the creative arts in expressing religious ideas.
Respect and Self Respect: to value themselves and others as unique human beings;