Intent

At Summercroft, we offer a structured sequence of lessons following the Discovery RE scheme of work, helping teachers to ensure that they have covered the skills and knowledge required and ensure progression.   

The purpose of our Religious Education curriculum is to enable pupils to become religiously literate; to have the ability to engage in balanced and informed conversations about religions and beliefs.  Creativity is supported and encouraged in all our children and promoted across the curriculum to help support children to become life-long learners. Promoting pupils to be respectful and engage with deeper questions such as “who is God?” is vital to ensuring pupils leave Summercroft with the ability to both understand their own worldview and those held by others.

Implementation

Religious Education is taught using the Discovery RE syllabus.

Discovery RE is an enquiry based approach to the study of Religious Education, covering modules in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism.  The syllabus is based on a 4 step enquiry process that demands an answer that weighs up the “evidence” and reaches a conclusion based on this.

The syllabus asks engaging questions of pupils that both challenge and broaden pupils world view, focussing on developing learners critical thinking skills, personal reflection and growing subject knowledge.

• What makes places special? (EYFS)
• What gifts might Christians in my town have given Jesus if he had been born here rather than in Bethlehem? (Yr 1, Christianity)
• What is the best way for a Jew to show commitment to God? (Yr 2, Judaism)
• Would visiting the River Ganges feel special to a Hindu and a non-Hindu? ( Yr 3, Hinduism)
• Could the Buddha’s teachings make the world a better place? ( Yr 4, Buddhism)
• Are Sikh stories important today? ( Yr 5, Sikhism)
• Is Christianity still a strong religion 2000 years after Jesus was on Earth? (Yr6, Christianity)

Each year group has a special owl, which enables children to ask questions, provide answers and challenge them with further questions.

Lessons are linked to British values and promote a whole school culture of diversity, tolerance and respect. Special R.E. Days and visitors from different faiths and world views will also enhance the learning experience.

We have developed our R.E. Curriculum Map detailing themes and units of work to be studied by each year group with accompanying knowledge organisers which are used to help develop children’s religious vocabulary. Each class has an RE curriculum pack which the curriculum map, RE syllabus with resource documents and lesson ideas to support teachers in the delivery of the RE curriculum.

Different methods will be used to record children’s work from annotations, photographs, art work and children’s reflections to evidence their achievement in RE. There is also the aim to have developed, informed conversations within RE lessons to take children’s thinking to a higher level.