Religious Education
EYFS Curriculum
In the foundation stage children encounter a range of RE related learning experiences and opportunities across all the areas of learning, but more frequently through:
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Personal, Social and Emotional Education
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Understanding the world
The main themes our RE covers are:
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Who Am I? Where we explore our own uniqueness, feelings, thankfulness, senses, things we can do and would like to be able to do, our families and our homes.
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Who Are You? We think about Jesus as a person, how to keep safe, similarities and differences between Jesus/ourselves/friends, Jesus special powers, friendship, how to treat other people, behaviour.
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Who Is God? We explore children’s ideas of God, God never changes, what can God do? What does God know? God’s family, prayer, God loves us.
We also learn about:
Harvest
Christmas: The Nativity story, Jesus’ birthday, celebrating Christmas.
Christingle
Divali: The story of Roma and Sita, Rangoli patterns.
Easter: Palm Sunday, Good Friday, New life, Easter celebrations.
Chinese New Year: The story of the animals.
Nursery visit Trinity Church.
Reception classes visit St Wilfrid’s Church and All Saints Church to compare them and contrast the two places of worship.
Planning for the three main themes is based on and adapted from: http://www.cist.org.uk/index.htm
Key Stage 1 Curriculum
Throughout Key Stage 1, pupils explore the religions of Christianity and Judaism. They begin to learn about different beliefs about God and the world around them through a range of stories, artefacts and other religious materials. Pupils will begin to understand the importance of religion and belief and will ask relevant questions which will help develop their sense of wonder about the world. They explore belonging, why and how belonging is so important. Pupils will begin to note similarities and differences in religions, recognise religious symbols and use religious words. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how spiritual and moral values relate to their own behaviour. The school Christian Values are taught through assemblies and within classes. These underpin everything in the curriculum.
The framework for Key Stage 1 RE curriculum is as follows:
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The Bible: Pupils explore the Bible, they demonstrate an awareness that the Bible is a special book to Christians. They hear and respond imaginatively to Bible stories about Jesus helping and welcoming people, stories of creation and the natural world. They are able to retell the Christmas and Easter stories.
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Jesus: Pupils develop an understanding of Jesus being a special person for Christians, and as a person who helped others. They encounter stories about his birth, life, death and his coming back to life. Pupils think about how they can be helpful to others.
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God: Pupils explore basic ideas about God as creator. They learn key Christian prayers and begin to know when they are used.
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Ways of life: Through stories, pupils begin to learn that Christians try to follow Jesus’ example. They learn about Christian values and reflect on their own actions and behaviour.
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Church: By visiting churches and learning about special ceremonies, pupils begin to understand some of the key features of a church. They think of the church as a special place for Christians and explore and reflect on their own feelings.
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Judaism: Pupils explore the festivals of Shabbat and Hanukkah. They begin to understand the special place of the home in Jewish family life and recognise some of the marks of the Jewish home.
Key Stage 2 Curriculum
Throughout Key Stage 2, pupils explore aspects of Christianity and a variety of other religions and belief systems, including Islam (Year 3 and 6), Sikhism (Year 4), Buddhism (Year 5), Hinduism (Year 6) and Judaism (Year 6). They find out about different beliefs and practices across these religions through a range of stories, practical experiences, discussions and personal research. Pupils focus on the importance of religion and belief, comparing their own beliefs and practices to those of other faiths and none, and considering how these link to their everyday lives. They develop a strong sense of respect for others’ beliefs and practices, through identifying similarities to their own beliefs and exploring why these are important. Through discussion and comparison to others’ beliefs and experiences, they gain an understanding of, and respect for, how personal beliefs and practices help them to develop morally and spiritually, reflecting on how this relates to their own behaviour. The school Christian Values are taught through assemblies and within classes, strongly underpinning the Religious Education curriculum.
The framework for Key Stage 2 RE curriculum is as follows:
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The Church: Pupils explore different kinds of churches and the practices that take place across different Christian denominations. They observe celebrations of Christian festivals around the year, taking part in these during church services with the school. They consider the church to be a sacred place for personal reflection, where they join as a community for celebrations.
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Jesus: Children develop a deeper understanding of the meanings of the major Christian festivals, including Christmas and Easter. They explore aspects of Christmas through exploring the journeys of the different people involved in the Christmas story, stories from the Bible and the Christian belief in the Incarnation. They gain a greater understanding of the significance of Easter through examining the significance of the Stations of the Cross and the events of Holy week, considering the emotions of those involved with Jesus at this time. The teaching of Christian Values is embedded throughout the school and is supported through a range of stories about Jesus. Children are encouraged to apply the teachings of Jesus to everyday life by considering ‘What would Jesus do?’ in their situation.
- God: Pupils explore the concept of God as a Creator and Protector in Christianity and comparing this belief to the beliefs held by followers of other faiths, including Islam and Judaism. They explore the concept of the Holy Trinity and compare this to others’ beliefs, highlighting similarities and differences across faiths. They write prayers, considering their purpose and putting these into practice through sharing in class and in assemblies.
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Judaism: Pupils explore the Jewish Creation story, comparing this to Christian beliefs and their own. They explore a variety of Jewish festivals, rites of passage and practices, including the festival of Shabbat, making comparisons between the purpose of each aspect of these customs and their own religious experiences.
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Islam: Pupils explore the Islamic Creation story, comparing this to Christian beliefs and their own. They explore a variety of Islamic festivals, rites of passage and practices, making comparisons between the purpose of each aspect of these customs and their own religious experiences.
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Sikhism: Children explore Sikh rites of passage, finding out how these are celebrated and making comparisons between Sikh customs and those of other faiths. They compare these to their own experiences.
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Buddhism: Pupils find out about the Buddhist belief system and explore a variety of practices, comparing these to their own experiences. They gain a greater understanding of the beliefs of Buddhists through discussions with a Buddhist monk.
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Hinduism: Children explore the beliefs and practices of Hindus in depth, examining and discussing their beliefs about Gods and comparing these to the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity, along with the beliefs of followers of other faiths and none. They find out about a variety of Hindu festivals and rites of passage, examining the customs involved and the purposes behind these, and comparing these to their own beliefs and customs. Their understanding of Hinduism is enhanced through a visit to a Mandir.
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Educational visits: Children’s understanding of the Religious Education curriculum is enhanced through a variety of educational visits and visitors to the school. These include; visiting a Catholic Church and a Mosque (Year 3); visiting a Sikh Gurdwara (Year 4), either being visited by a Buddhist monk or visiting a Buddhist temple (Year 5) and visiting a Hindu Mandir (Year 6).