Earlham Primary School

Intent

At Earlham, we believe that it is important for all our pupils to learn from and about religion, so that they can understand the world around them; Our carefully designed Religious Education curriculum aims to enable our pupils to acquire the core knowledge and understanding of practices of religions and worldviews which shape their history and culture and also guide their own development; 

Our Religious Education teaching has its roots in our British values of tolerance and mutual respect ensuring that our pupils are aware of their rights and responsibilities as UK citizens; While integrating in a diverse, multicultural, contemporary UK, we want our Earlham pupils to be sufficiently confident in their own beliefs and values that they can respect the religious and cultural differences of others and contribute to a cohesive and compassionate society; We want our pupils to identify common themes in different faiths, and appreciate and celebrate the co-existence, acceptance and tolerance of all faiths at our school and in our local community;

We want our pupils to appreciate the ways in which religious beliefs shape life and behaviour, develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; Our pupils are encouraged to consider the impact of faith on people’s lives both at a personal level and in the global context, and to understand some of the geopolitical realities of the latter; We aim to provide all our pupils with wonderful opportunities to reflect, ask big questions about the world and consider their own values, beliefs and experiences; Ultimately, our Religious Education curriculum aims to encourage reflection, creativity, imagination, enquiry, debate, discussion and independence. 

Implementation

We have carefully designed our RE curriculum so that it introduces some key facts about the major religions in KS1 and then revisits each religion in KS2 to explore the teachings of each faith in more detail and/or build on more philosophical understanding e.g. in Y1 children learn about why Christians celebrate Christmas, in Y2 they learn about why Jesus told stories, in Y3 children learn about what different religions say about kindness, in Y4 children learn about what different religions say about welcoming strangers, in Y5 children learn about what different religions say about how we treat animals and in Y6 children consider what different religions believe about what happens when we die. 

Within a unit, the sequencing is determined by the key knowledge outcomes: e.g.  What happens when we die? (Y6) - Inspired by the Newham SACRE syllabus, this unit explores not only how different religions mark death, but also how people then deal with their sadness and grief. The sequencing starts with acknowledging sadness as a normal part of our lives, then explores how death is marked in different religions and then goes on to support the children to think about mourning and loss and how we can help people who have suffered a loss;

• Know that everyone feels sad at times in their lives
• Know how the death of a person is commemorated and marked in different religions and communities
• Know some of my own beliefs about what happens when a person dies
• Know it is important to express our emotions
• Know some ways we remember people who have died

In Years 5 and 6 we want to build on our curriculum intent statement: “Our curriculum is designed to provide our pupils with the foundations of a love of lifelong learning, to give them ‘powerful’ knowledge which enables them to engage with and communicate about the world beyond their lived experience, and to think analytically and critically about the world around them” so the units they study are about comparing religions, understanding differences, and thinking about how religion plays out in the real world of geopolitics

During Interfaith Week, each class visits a place of worship and we invite our local faith leaders into school to describe and explain aspects of their faith and customs. Children also explore and discuss artefacts and special books from different faiths and begin each day with Interfaith Week themed wellbeing check ins e.g. exploring and reflecting on a faith story, reflecting on statements to encourage community cohesion and creating posters to promote religious harmony. All pupils enjoy a special Interfaith Week Oracy assembly, designed to evoke reflections and amicable debates. 

We promote a Religious Education curriculum that is inclusive so that children who have SEND and/or are new to English can still access the learning and reflect e.g. via art, role-play and/or creating a voice recording. We also include the teaching of non-religious beliefs and contemporary issues e.g. the importance of respecting the LGBT community, different families and atheists/agnostics. 

By the end of Reception, pupils will know about different beliefs in the community and special people who help them e.g. at school, at home, in their families and their community. 

By the end of KS1, pupils will know the key facts about the 4/6 major religions e.g. beliefs about God, place of worship, holy book(s), symbols of faith and festivals/celebrations.

By the end of KS2, pupils will know the key facts of all 6 major religions and how to learn from them, engage in deeper inquiry and reflect on their own beliefs. They will also encounter secular world views and consider the impact of beliefs and practices in greater detail e.g. views about animals, fasting, how to express kindness and how to welcome strangers.

Impact

Earlham pupils will know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews, so that they can describe, explain and analyse beliefs and practices and recognise the diversity which exists within and between communities and among individuals. Pupils will identify, investigate and respond to questions posed and responses offered by some of the sources of wisdom found in religions and worldviews. Pupils will appreciate and appraise the nature, significance and impact of different ways of life, ways of expressing meaning and varied dimensions of religion or a worldview. Pupils will express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews.

Pupils explain reasonably their ideas about how beliefs, practices and forms of expression influence individuals and communities. Pupils express with increasing discernment their personal reflections and critical responses to questions and teachings about identity, diversity, meaning and value, including ethical issues. 

Earlham pupils will gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews so that they can find out about and investigate key concepts and questions of belonging, meaning, purpose and truth, responding creatively, enquire into what enables different individuals and communities to live together respectfully for the wellbeing of all and articulate beliefs, values and commitments clearly in order to explain why they may be important in their own and other people’s lives.