RE

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The principal aim of religious education in Oxclose Primary Academy is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.

Our school asserts the importance and value of religious education (RE) for all pupils, with on-going benefits for an open, articulate and understanding society. Pupils develop understanding of Christianity in each key stage. In addition, they will develop understanding of the principal religions represented in the UK. These are Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. Furthermore, children from families where non-religious world views are held are represented.

Religious Education Update

We are currently in the process of improving our Religious Education (RE) Curriculum, in line with the new Sunderland Agreed Syllabus.  This will include changes in the religions studies and the format of RE lessons across the school.  See links below for what is coming soon!!

Planned Curriculum Update

Our new curriculum is designed to support schools in developing and delivering excellence in RE. It aims to deepen pupils’ knowledge about religions and for developing their ‘religious literacy’. It does this by studying one religion at a time (‘systematic’ units), and then including ‘thematic’ units, which build on learning by comparing the religions, beliefs and practices studied.

The curriculum sets out an underlying teaching and learning approach, whereby pupils encounter core concepts in religions and beliefs in a coherent way, developing their understanding and their ability to handle questions of religion and belief.

Teaching and learning in the classroom will encompass all three elements, allowing for overlap between elements as suits the religion, concept and question being explored. These elements set the context for open exploration of religion and belief. They offer a structure through which pupils can encounter diverse religious traditions alongside non-religious worldviews – which reflect the backgrounds of many pupils in our school. The elements present a broad and flexible strategy that allows for different traditions to be treated with integrity. These elements offer a route through each unit while also allowing for a range of questions reflecting different approaches, for example, from religious studies, philosophy, sociology, ethics and theology.

Wider Opportunities

At Oxclose, we believe it is important to offer the children opportunities to deepen their knowledge and understanding on top of their weekly lessons. Each academic year we have a themed week of study that complements the regular programme of timetabled lessons. These themed weeks allow children to study an identified religion in more depth.

Diwali

During our themed week on the religious festival of Diwali the children took part in a range of wonderful activities. The children made cards and designed Rangooli patterns on the yard to welcome visitors to our school. Some of our Year 2 children made Diya - Clay lamps and in Year 3 the children created Lakshmi Footprints. In Year 5 the children took part in some traditional food tasting of vegetable dahl and samosas.

Festivals

Our children enjoy visits to the local church and hold Harvest, Christmas and Easter services there. We have a good relationship with our local Reverend and he visits school to speak in classes and share whole-school assemblies. We are looking forward to our Easter service.

Visits/Visitors

We have visited the local Catholic church so that children can see that not all Christian churches are the same. We were shown around by Deacon Tony Joy who showed us around the church, answering all our questions, and around their beautiful flower garden. The children enjoyed looking at the Stations of the Cross” and the Font.

 

Intent

At Oxclose Primary Academy, the teaching of Religious Education (R.E.) is not designed to convert pupils to any one religion or to urge them to hold any particular religious belief. Instead, it plays a pivotal role in contributing to pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, supporting their understanding of the world in which they live.

In their time in our school, we want to give pupils the opportunity to ask and discuss questions about the major six faiths (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.) We want them to acquire and show empathy, to investigate and then reflect. We promote the development of positive attitudes to concepts such as enquiry, fairness, respect, equality and self-knowledge. We feel that it is important for pupils to be open to learning about other faiths and to visit a number of places of worship in their time in our school.

We want them to have the opportunity to celebrate major festivals throughout the year, whilst also being aware of core British Values and traditions. R.E. helps promote respect and tolerance in a diverse society and we want our pupils to grow in confidence, to be able to ask questions and identify similarities and differences to further deepen their knowledge and understanding about the world they live in.

Implementation

The R.E. curriculum is based on the Sunderland Agreed Syllabus, which reflects the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teachings and practices of other world religions represented in Great Britain today. The Long Term Plan for R.E. details what should be studied in each year group. In Key Stage 1, the core religions studied are Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism. In Lower Key Stage 2, Years 3 and 4, they are Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism whilst in Upper Key Stage 2, Years 5 and 6, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism are covered. In the summer term, each class studies a multi-faith unit which involves a more in depth study of the year group’s core religions, comparing approaches to religious concepts such as belonging, holy books, worship or pilgrimage. Within the Early Years curriculum, R.E. is taught through the prime area of personal, social and emotional development.

To further support pupils’ understanding of the traditions of Christianity and British Values, all classes take part in a daily act of worship, either in their class base or as part of a whole school assembly. The school also attends the village church to celebrate Harvest, Christmas and Easter each year, and we have a close working relationship with the local pastor. To promote religious diversity, each year, a different festival, such as Hanukah, Chinese New Year or Diwali, is picked as a focus celebration. It starts with a whole school assembly and culminates in displays in public areas of school to share learning and experiences. The Long Term Plan details which places of worship could be visited in across the year, ensuring pupils have the opportunity to visit a range of different places of worship during their time in primary school.

Across the school year, pupils are expected to recall key knowledge and to make links within and across the religions they study.

Impact

Pupils will be able to confidently discuss the R.E. curriculum that they have covered and show an understanding of the similarities and differences between those covered religions. They will exhibit an acceptance of other people having different faiths or beliefs to themselves and demonstrate that this should not only be tolerated, but seen as a welcome opportunity to find out more.

To enable us to measure impact, the subject manager and senior leaders will use lesson visits, work scrutinies and pupil voice activities across the year.