RE at Hill View Primary Academy

Religious Education adaptation guidance

Within RE lessons at Hill View, we want our children to learn about themselves as developing individuals and as members of their communities. It is important for our children to be able to celebrate the differences with have in beliefs and how we can respect each other. To achieve this, children at Hill View learn about all aspects of religious education through high quality lessons.

In addition, Hill View firmly believes that all children deserve time and opportunity to explore their own spirituality and to develop their own understanding of how faith and religion shape the lives of many individuals and societies.  The pupils of Hill View have the opportunity to engage in the questioning and exploration of their own and others’ beliefs, ethics, religions and worldviews.

Principles, intent and purpose

Hill View Primary Academy teaches RE to all pupils in accordance with the statutory requirements of the Dorset agreed syllabuses i.e. that reflects that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions.

We use the Discovery scheme as the basis for what is taught across all year groups, which is adapted for the needs of our pupils and supplemented by further engaging resources to bring the children’s learning alive.

Our aim is to provide all children with the time and opportunity to explore their own spirituality and to develop their own understanding of how faith and religion shape the lives of many individuals and societies. At Hill View, we want all children to be inspired to look at their own faith and share their traditions as well as explore their peers’. Children are taught to understand and respect the beliefs of others. We also want them to learn about the world’s major religions and cultures through tales and facts.

The pupils of Hill View have the opportunity to engage in the exploration of their own and others’ beliefs, ethics, religions and worldviews. The school is part of the local community and we benefit from contact with Christian and other religious leaders such as our links with St Thomas’ Church in Ensbury Park. We aim to nurture our children’s sense of belonging by providing them with frequent opportunities to reflect on their beliefs and values, with whole phase assemblies and in class reflections.

When studying RE we want our children to develop the following skills:

• To discuss – debate and conversate about issues that relate to different religions and cultures.
• To be critical – able to identify problems, discrepancies and contradictions relating to people’s faiths.
• To enquire– able to question and ask for justifications.
• To be inquisitive – want to know why, and how things work.
• To be appreciative – able to respect other people’s faiths and cultures.

RE Overview 2022-23 final[100]

https://discoveryschemeofwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Discovery-RE-for-parents.pdf

Entitlement and enrichment

Spirituality is closely linked with RE, all year groups will weave opportunities for children’s spiritual development throughout their Integrated Curriculum topics. During their learning in each topic children are given opportunities to reflect on their own beliefs and those of others, to take notice, be mindful and to feel gratitude.

The children also have daily opportunities for collective worship, which when possible are led by visitors from the religious community.

Breadth and Balance

Religious education promotes pupils’ understanding of the multicultural and multifaith society we live in today, enabling the exploration of issues, beliefs and differences between faiths. Religion and belief for many people form a crucial part of their culture and identity. Having learned about different faiths and beliefs, pupils are then encouraged to understand how people interact with each other and explore interfaith issues of contemporary society. Whether they have a faith or not, pupils need to be given an awareness of what life is like from a religious point of view. Knowledge and understanding of the features, ideas and practices of the focused religions in each key stage is important so pupils are able to distinguish between the religions and understand what religion entails. There is a need to appreciate the values and attitudes which individuals in a group hold true and the effects these have on the community. Schools have a duty to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils and, although it is important that the school ethos and all subjects contribute towards this; the teaching of religious education has a large part to play. The impact of religion on society and public life is constantly brought to public attention through extensive media coverage. The rapid pace of development in scientific and medical technologies and the environmental debate continue to present new issues which could raise religious, moral and social questions.

Early Years Foundation Stage

The agreed syllabus for religious education supports and provides opportunities for children to strengthen the positive impressions they have of their own cultures and faiths, and those of others in their community. These opportunities are enhanced through sharing and celebrating a range of practices and special events as well as welcoming visitors in to the school.

Key Stage One and Key Stage Two

Throughout Key Stage 1 and 2 children learn about the main world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism) in units distributed across all year groups. Their understanding about each faith is built upon across their prior learning as they are provided with opportunities to revisit prior learning.

Teaching narrative

The overview of the Discovery RE medium term planning can be found here:

https://discoveryschemeofwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Discovery-RE-Overview.pdf

Enquiry topics covered in each year group:

Implementation:  What does Religious Education look like at Hill View?

The teaching of R.E at Hill View places enquiry at the heart of learning. Each unit is planned so that it;

• is engaging and sets a purpose.
• allows time for children to draw conclusions and reflect.
• allows time for children to re-consider their opinions and views.
• allows children to justify their views respectfully than simply expressing their personal feelings.

The teaching and learning of R.E also offer children the opportunities to develop their SMSC skills by;

• Gathering insights into the impact of beliefs, practices and values, and whether they might be healthy or unhealthy.
• allowing pupils to explore the value of safety in relation to attitudes to authority, property, relationships and the impact of ideas, and to develop social skills and empathy for others in considering these issues.
• fostering a sense of self-awareness, belonging and identity that manifests itself in positive participation in school and community life.

To ensure our teachers provide the best opportunities for the delivery of the RE curriculum, the content of the subject has been carefully sequenced.

RE at Hill view is taught as a discrete subject within the wider curriculum, which means that it is not taught through integrated curriculum topics but on its own. RE is timetabled for an hour each week and taught each half term in 6-week blocks.

Impact: Evidence and Assessment

At Hill View, children record their learning in a variety of ways, within their RE books. Evidence of the learning is dependent on the lesson outcome; year group and the knowledge and skills being developed.

Each module of work will be teacher and pupil assessed. The children are encouraged to consider and assess their own learning using a set of criteria that relate to their ability to reflect on their own views and follow a line of enquiry.

Subject leaders will conduct learning walks, planning scrutiny and pupil interviews to measure the impact of our teaching, based on how much children can remember about current and previous learning.

Resources – useful websites

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z7hs34j

https://school-learningzone.co.uk/key_stage_two/ks2_religious_education/ks2_re.html

https://biblehub.com/childrens/

https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Kidz-Zone