Religious Education
Introduction to RE
Religious education enables children to find out about what others believe throughout the world. We allow the children to identify the differences in how each of these religions lives as well as reflect upon their own. At East Dene, we develop children’s understanding of not only Christianity but many other religions practised around the world including Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism.
We have many different faiths within our school and aim to make these a key priority in order to educate children about the people around them and within their community.
We encourage the children to articulate their own personal ideas, values, beliefs and any experiences they may encounter whilst remain respectful when learning about how other religions may differ from their own.
Related Documents
Overview
Curriculum Aims
Intent, Implementation and Impact
Our Intent
It is East Dene’s Intent to spark curiosity and to explore the many religious beliefs, values and traditions within our multi-cultural society. We aim to give our children the opportunity to inform others and share experiences from their own religions.
East Dene aims for every individual to leave school with a sound understanding and respect for all families both within their own community and within the wider world. At East Dene we provide opportunities to promote an ethos of respect for others, challenge stereotypes and build on understanding of other cultures and beliefs. This contributes to promoting a positive and inclusive school ethos that champions democratic values and human rights.
We provide an excellent RE curriculum allowing all of our children to thrive and make progress ranging from EYFS to Year 6. It allows children to access a wide variety of beliefs and religions, providing children with unforgettable experiences and enabling children to reach their full potential within RE.
Implementation
EYFS
Christianity, religions and beliefs represented in our class or school.
In our Early Years Foundation Stage, Pupil’s encounter religions and world views through special people, books, times, places and objects and by visiting places of worship. They listen to and talk about stories. They are introduced to subject specific words and use all their senses to explore beliefs, practices and forms of expression. They ask questions and reflect on their own feelings and experiences. They use their imagination and curiosity to develop their appreciation of and wonder at the world in which they live. Religious Education is, unlike the subjects of the National Curriculum, a legal requirement for all pupils on the school roll, including all those in the reception year.
KS1
- Year 1 & 2
- Christianity and Islam
- The Focus of RE for KS1 enables our children to develop their knowledge and understanding of religions and world views. They find out about simple examples of religion that are drawn from local, national and global contexts. They learn to use subject specific vocabulary. They raise questions and begin to express their own views in response to the material they learn about and in response to questions about their ideas.
KS2
- Year 3, 4, 5 & 6.
- Christianity and Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism Sikhism and Judaism.
- The Focus of RE for KS2 enables pupils to extend their knowledge and understanding of religions and world views, recognising their local, national and global contexts. They are introduced to an extended range of sources and subject specific vocabulary. They are encouraged to be curious and to ask increasingly challenging questions about religion, belief, values and human life. All pupils learn to express their own ideas in response to the material they engage with, identifying relevant information, selecting examples and giving reasons to support their ideas and views.
Impact
RE provokes challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
RE equips pupils with knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and world views, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identity. It should develop an aptitude for dialogue in pupils so that they can participate positively in our society which is diverse in relation to religions and world views.
Pupils should gain and deploy the skills needed to interpret and evaluate evidence, texts and sources of wisdom or authority. They learn to articulate clear and coherent accounts of their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences while respecting the right of others to have different views, values and ways of life.
A. Know about and understand a range of religions and world views, so that they can:
- Describe, explain and analyse beliefs and practices, recognising the diversity which exists within and between communities.
- Identify, investigate and respond to questions posed by, and responses offered by some of the sources of wisdom found in religions and world views.
- Appreciate and appraise the nature, significance and impact of different ways of life and ways of expressing meaning.
B. Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and world views, so that they can:
- Explain reasonably their ideas about how beliefs, practices and forms of expression influence individuals and communities.
- Express with increasing discernment their personal reflections and critical responses to questions and teachings about identity, diversity, meaning and value.
- Appreciate and appraise varied dimensions of religion.
C. Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and world views, 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 communities to live together respectfully for the wellbeing of all.
- Articulate beliefs, values and commitments clearly in order to explain reasons why they may be important in their own and other people’s lives.
Cultural Capital
Cultural capital is a sociological concept which describes a person’s social assets, usable in seeking and securing status within the social groups to which the individual belongs, from the local and familial to the national or global.
Cultural and social assets include, for example, education, family status, style of speech – whatever gives access to a society’s benefits. Religions make key contributions to cultural capital in many areas. This might relate to culture in its widest sense, including film, food, sport, fashion, the arts, language, history, science – and indeed faiths, beliefs and religions, in relation to the multicultural society.
The distribution and accumulation of cultural capital – as with financial capital – seems to be unequal, and this can lead to some groups being disadvantaged.
Cultural capital comprises both the material and symbolic goods which a person can access and use within the economy. Think of it as the accumulated cultural knowledge that confers social status and power, including all the cultural offers religions make for their followers.
The diagram offers a simple description of RE’s potential in relation to cultural capital, framed as four questions and here are some examples of RE’s contribution to cultural capital include these, among many others:
At East Dene we celebrate at least one celebration day/ festival every half term whether this includes religious visits, visitors arriving into school or conducting our own religious festival.
During the Autumn Term, Reverend Karen from St James’s church conducted an assembly for us all about the Harvest Festival and how this is celebrated within communities around the country. In past years as a whole school, we have walked down to St James’s church in order to celebrate the Harvest Festival. Each phase created their own harvest hamper to take to church in order to give to others who are not as fortunate as ourselves. Each phase sang a harvest song of their choice and also performed poems they had created within class. Last year our school council members visited retirement nursing homes and delivered some homemade buns and a harvest basket for all the residents to enjoy.
This half term we have conducted Rosh Hasana and Diwali afternoons throughout the school where we conducted many activities and adopted some of their traditions.
In the past, we have provided a family learning session to celebrate the Hindu festival Diwali. The children and their families joined in creating Rangoli patterns and Diwali lanterns. We provided a variety of food that could be purchased by parents that many Hindus would eat during the Festival of Diwali. The children were able to develop their art, design and music skills by using a wide range of media to create Rangoli patterns whilst listening to cultural music. A child from each class in school learnt a Bollywood dance prior to the Diwali festival and performed this to all the parents. The children were able to develop their creative talents including dance and music by learning the artistic movements within Bollywood dancing.
At the end of the Autumn term, it is always a very religious and festive time within East Dene.
For Christmas celebrations, our whole school also have the opportunity to visit Hope Church and to conduct a Christingle service.Every year we celebrate Eid and many of our older children share their knowledge and understanding with the whole school community. Our Y5/6 visit the Cenotaph to pay their respects as part of Remembrance Day, with the rest of the school creating their own poppy for a whole school display. We strive to provide quality first teaching for the children with as many real-life opportunities, to bring learning to life and provide a more enticing, engaging and enriching experience.
Progress Models
Skills and Processes To Be Developed Through Religious Education
Progression in RE depends upon the development of the following generic learning skills applied to RE. These skills should be used in developing a range of activities for pupils to demonstrate their capabilities in RE. They ensure that teachers will move pupils on from knowledge accumulation and work that is merely descriptive to higher level thinking and more sophisticated skills.
Reflection – this includes:
- Reflecting on feelings, relationships, experience, ultimate questions, beliefs and practices
Empathy – this includes:
- Considering the thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes, beliefs and values of others
- Developing the ability to identify feelings such as love, wonder, forgiveness and sorrow
- Seeing the world through the eyes of others, and seeing issues from their point of view
Investigation – this includes:
- Asking relevant questions
- Knowing how to gather information from a variety of sources
- Knowing what may constitute evidence for justifying beliefs in religion
Interpretation – this includes:
- Drawing meaning from artefacts, works of art, music, poetry and symbolism
- Interpreting religious language
- Suggesting meanings of religious texts
Evaluation – this includes:
- Debating issues of religious significance with reference to evidence and argument
Analysis – this includes:
- Distinguishing between opinion and fact
- Distinguishing between the features of different religions
Synthesis – this includes:
- Linking significant features of religion together in a coherent pattern
- Connecting different aspects of life into a meaningful whole
Application – this includes:
- Making the association between religion and individual, community, national and international life
Expression – this includes:
- Explaining concepts, rituals and practices
- Expressing religious views, and responding to religious questions through a variety of media
Updated East Dene progression of skills RE 2023 2024
Progression of Language
Progression in language, vocabulary and key ideas: a summary of a select shortlist of keywords and core concepts.
This table shows how learning across the age groups develops and uses the language of religious study and of particular religions in increasing depth and complexity.
At East dene we all follow the glossary that is shown below to provide consistency across school when using definitions with the children.
Knowledge Organisers
Substantive and Disciplinary Knowledge
Research Around the Curriculum
Concepts
Rich knowledge: Concepts to be understood
The program of study enables pupils to increase and deepen their knowledge and understanding of key concepts in These concepts relate to the religions and world views studied. The areas of enquiry or key general concepts in RE can be described like this:
- beliefs, teachings, sources of wisdom and authority;
- experiences and ways of living;
- ways of expressing meaning;
- questions of identity, diversity and belonging;
- questions of meaning, purpose and truth;
- questions of values
While this list of concepts bears a close relation to previous versions of RE curriculum guidance (e.g. the QCA National Non Statutory RE Framework of 2004, the 2013 RE Council Framework, the Rotherham RE Syllabus of 2015), the concepts are listed above to provide a checklist of areas in which pupils will make progress in RE and to guide syllabus makers in developing appropriate statements of attainment for different groups of pupils. This task will require further work and consultation in the RE community.
Example of MTP’s
Examples of Planning
At East Dene Primary School our RE curriculum draws from the Strengths of ‘The Rotherham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2022’ and is meticulously designed to complement the context of our school. Alongside of this we also use a scheme of work called ‘PlanBee’ which we gather our unit of work from.
We provide an excellent RE curriculum allowing all of our children to thrive and make progress ranging from EYFS to Year 6. It allows children to access a wide variety of beliefs and religions, providing children with unforgettable experiences and enabling children to reach their full potential within RE.
Useful Websites
Useful Links
How Parents/Carers Can Help
Even if you’re raising a family rooted in one faith, it is important that you show your children how to connect with and tolerate other religions. This can be done through a variety of different ways, such as: visiting other places of worship within our community; reading religious texts at the local library or by embracing foods from other cultures. It is also important that our children understand their family’s religious backgrounds, their ethical and spiritual beliefs as well as how these links with our British Values.
Religious Education (RE) must be taught by all state-funded schools in England. However, it has an unusual position on the curriculum: it is part of the basic curriculum but not the National Curriculum, and is one of two subjects (along with sex and relationship education) where parents have a legal right to withdraw their children from class.
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