Religious education

INTENT

At St Stephen’s School, we are Theologists! As a school, our aim is that every child achieves their full potential as an individual made in the image and likeness of God. This includes the spiritual, moral, social, academic, physical and creative dimension of each child. Our R.E. curriculum is the vehicle through which we support and nurture children to achieve this potential.

Our intent is for children to learn about faith and learn to live the faith. The Christian values promoted at St Stephen’s - underpin every aspect of learning in our school and are central to everything we do. This is a place where children and adults unite together, learning in the light of Christ.

We want our children to develop a respect for other beliefs and religions, and appreciate and celebrate the diverse world in which they live. The R.E. curriculum is also about, ‘Belonging,’ it aims to nurture pupils’ awareness of diversity so that all children show respect and tolerance of others and feel like they belong to our very special school community.

We follow the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education’s (SDBE) curriculum plans, adapting the plans to meet the needs of our learners. These plans teach children to learn about religion (AT1) and to learn from religion (AT2). We have a rich and balanced curriculum, which encourages children to understand, explore and compare world religions, fostering a deep respect for all and value the diversity in God’s people.

Knowledge and Understanding

Our aim is to support our children in developing an outstanding level of religious understanding and knowledge, focused around the Christian faith and the teachings of Jesus. Children will show increasing knowledge and understanding of a range of religious beliefs and scripture, what it means to belong to a church community, religious signs and symbols and they will be able to use a wide range of religious vocabulary accurately and appropriately.

Engagement and Response

We want children to engage and respond to the R.E. curriculum by comparing their own and other people’s responses to questions about the meaning and purpose of life. Our intent is for children to show an understanding of how their own and other’s decisions are informed by beliefs and moral values.

Analysis and Evaluation

Children will be able to express a viewpoint and give reasons for it before arriving at judgements. They will be able to use sources as evidence to support a point of view and they will be able to make links and connections between a variety of sources as evidence to inform knowledge.

IMPLEMENTATION

How we teach RE

At St Stephen’s school, a wide range of teaching methods and ways of recording learning are used to enable all children to reach their potential by becoming religiously literate. As a core subject, high importance is placed on teaching children to use correct terminology and allowing children to develop as collaborative learners as well as independent thinkers. RE class teaching is enriched by visits to religious places of worship and our Governors, the vicar at our parish church - plays an active role in the day-to-day life of the school. Teaching is also enhanced through the visits of local church leaders and other volunteers. Every year during the lead up to Easter, the whole school focuses on the significance of Easter during our RE week.

In addition to this:

Every year group will learn about one other world faiths. Examples include: Islam, Judaism and Hinduism.
Lessons will be brought to life using stories, events and characters to teach significant Christian teachings. Teachers are encouraged to use a variety of mediums in lessons. For example; hot seating, role play, story boarding, recounts, diary entries, experiences of children in the class, media and handling artefacts.
Children will have the opportunity to share their own views, thoughts, reflections and personal beliefs. The values and beliefs of children who follow a faith other than the Christian faith or who have no faith, will be valued and respected.
In the Early Years classes, religious education is an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. As the reception class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, staff relate the religious education aspects of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five – People, Culture and Communities. Additional RE topics covered throughout the year are outlined in the long-term plan and taught weekly within the reception classes
Teachers reference the school rules and values of the school during teaching, this supports pupils to contribute and engage in lessons and be part of a class community
Teachers are encouraged to be creative in task design, and children’s work can take the form of artwork, discussion, drama, song, extended writing or a mixture of these.
RE is taught weekly in every class. The minimum time given to the subject will be 45 minutes in KS 1 and 1 hour in KS 2. For one week in the year, there will be a specific focus on exploring aspects of RE, faith and belief in more detail and children will be able to explore RE themes in more depth. Each Year group completes six units of work, of varying length, to fit in with the Christian year.
During their time at St Stephen’s, pupils have the opportunity to participate in a number of RE related trips, visits and experiences.

These include:

Local church visits
Visit to a mosque
Visit and a talk from someone who practices a particular religion
A Synagogue visit
Buddhist Temple visit
In school visits from parents to share religious beliefs
In school visit from an incumbent
Handling of sacred texts and religious artefacts

IMPACT

The impact of this curriculum will nurture children who truly live out the gospel values and apply these to everything they do in their lives going forward. Our children will live and breathe these values, spreading the gospel messages throughout their lives, helping them to live their unique destiny based on God's plan for them.

Our curriculum will lead to outstanding progress over time across key stages relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Children will therefore be expected to leave St. Stephen’s reaching at least age related expectations for R.E. Our R.E. curriculum will also lead pupils to be enthusiastic R.E. learners, evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice and their work.

How RE is assessed

The work in children’s books for the whole unit is used to guide teachers when assessing and moderating. When assessing, teachers refer to Attainment Targets 1 and 2; learning about religion and learning from religion which are linked to the units that have been taught, to objectively decide whether a child working within, below or above age-related expectations.

Assessment data is given to the RE coordinator who collates the data and analyses it. RE data is compared to writing levels as a guide when investigating whether children are working at, below or above their other levels in RE. The outcomes of the analysis will guide and influence future planning of aspirational outcomes for children each year group.

Class teachers will be given the RE data for their new class at the start of the year to enable them to plan and teach correctly pitched lessons and RE data will be shared with parents.

RE assessment

Each child in your class needs to be assessed for each unit.
The title page is where you Stephen off whether the children are meeting the AT1 and AT2 target.

Aims of RE assessment

To inform planning.
Track gaps in subject knowledge of the children.
To enable children to engage with RE on a deeper level.
Both AT1 and AT2 targets need to be met each lesson. Targets are pitched to your Key stage.
AT1 is knowing about the religion. EG. Knowing stories from the Bible, certain rituals religious believers take part in.
AT2 is learning from religion. It reflects on the wider implications for believers of that religion. E.g. What does that Bible story mean? How does it affect the lives and actions of that believer? Children can also reflect on what it means to them.
AT1 and AT2 objectives for each lesson can be found on your title pages.