Religious Education

Intent

At Wolsingham Primary School, we believe that RE has an important role to play as part of a broad, balanced and coherent curriculum to which all pupils are entitled. It provides a positive context in which the diversity of cultures, beliefs and values in society can be celebrated and explored. RE provides an opportunity to promote an ethos of respect for others. Lessons ensure that our children grow to become tolerant and respectful citizens, who appreciate that everybody has their own set of beliefs and values and that these may differ from their own. Our curriculum encourages children to ask and reflect on wondering questions and provides opportunities for personal reflection and critical thinking, where children can explore their own beliefs and opinions in a safe and supportive environment. The RE curriculum forms part of our school’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural teaching. At Wolsingham primary we strongly believe that the ability to understand the faith or belief of individuals and communities, and how these may shape their culture and behaviour, is an invaluable asset for children in modern day Britain. Explaining religious and non-religious worldviews in an academic way allows young people to engage with the complexities of belief, avoid stereotyping and contribute to an informed debate.  

The RE curriculum develops the priorities for pupils at Wolsingham Primary School in the following ways:   

Basic skills –  The RE curriculum provides meaningful contexts for developing core learning skills that support pupils across the curriculum. They develop their reading skills when encountering sacred texts (e.g., stories from the Bible, Qur’an, Torah) strengthening retrieval, inference, and understanding of complex vocabulary. Lesson structures including circle time, enquiry questions and debates promote confident verbal expression, enabling pupils to explain their ideas clearly, listen respectfully and ask meaningful questions. Writing skills are developed by providing opportunities to write reflections, explanations and comparisons. Pupils use their critical thinking skills to analyse beliefs, identify themes, and draw conclusions, learning to distinguish fact, opinion, and belief.

Resilience and Perseverance –  RE naturally encourages emotional and cognitive resilience by engaging children with big questions and unfamiliar ideas. It helps to build resilience by addressing complex concepts such as forgiveness, morality, commitment and identity challenging children to think deeply. Tasks such as interpreting symbolism or comparing beliefs require persistence and revisiting ideas over time.

Social Awareness –  RE is central to developing pupils’ understanding of themselves and others, promoting empathy by exploring festivals, practices, and lived experiences of people from different faiths and worldviews. By promoting respect through structured discussion and learning about similarities and differences; by promoting citizenship by understanding diversity gaining insight into cultural and religious diversity locally, nationally, and globally and by developing moral reasoning encouraging the examination of right and wrong, fairness and consequences and collaboration including understanding multiple viewpoints.

Knowledge –  This is the core purpose of RE and progresses systematically from EYFS to Year 6. Pupils learn beliefs and teachings across major world religions, practices and ways of living including festivals, rituals, worship and daily religious life; concepts such as belonging, authority, sacredness, identity and morality; the vocabulary related to each tradition and the impact of beliefs on individuals, families and communities.

Implementation

RE Long Term Plan 

  • We use the Durham Agreed Syllabus which was revised in 2020 for the basis of our Curriculum. The syllabus encourages enquiry-based learning and provides a developmental approach to RE which is coherent and systematic. 
  • The curriculum covers the RE Concepts of Belief, Authority, Expressions of Belief and Impact of Belief. 
  • Teachers use the Durham plans to support their own planning to ensure full coverage of each unit. 
  • The Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter are covered by a whole school approach during the lead up to these festivals.  Each year group focuses on a different area of each festival, as suggested in the Agreed syllabus.  
  • RE is taught for 1 hour per week across the whole school year. 
  • Each unit is driven by a key question which is a basis for enquiry-based learning.  Children are provided opportunities to engage explore and evaluate their learning.  
  • Lessons all involve children using stories, texts, artefacts and visitors to answer the question for each lesson and the key question of that unit. 
  • At Key Stage 1, the children are introduced to the beliefs and features of Christianity and Buddhism. In Key Stage 2, the children develop their knowledge of Christianity and are introduced to the features of Hinduism, Judaism and Islam.  
  • Other thematic concepts such as why people use ritual in their lives, how and why religious people show care for others and how those with a religious faith care for the environment are taught in all key stages, where suggested by the Agreed syllabus. 

Impact

As children progress through the RE curriculum at Wolsingham Primary School they will: 

  • Have a wide knowledge and understanding of different religions and cultures. 
  • Ask and answer challenging questions and know that not all questions will have answers. 
  • Demonstrate a positive attitude towards people of any religion and show an understanding of cultural beliefs different to their own.  
  • Be confident at reflecting on their own beliefs and views and how these are similar and/or different to those of other people. 
  • Be respectful when meeting visitors from a variety of faith groups.  
  • Become culturally aware of their and others’ cultural heritage. 
  • Make a positive and helpful contribution to their own community. 

 

Religious Education in the Early Years 

During the Early Years Foundation Stage, children will begin to explore the world of religion in terms of special people, books, times, places and objects and by visiting places of worship. They listen to and talk about stories. They will be introduced to religious words and concepts and use their senses in exploring religions and beliefs, practices and forms of expression. They reflect on their own feelings and experiences. They use their imagination and curiosity to develop their appreciation and wonder of the world in which they live. Topics such as Special Times, Special Objects, Special People, Special Books, Belonging, The Natural World, New Life, New Places, Story, provide excellent opportunities for foundation work in nursery and reception and can be successfully built on at Key Stage 1.