RE Subject Lead Ghazala Tucker

Our RE Vision 

The children at Winterbourne Earls learn that God loves them and they show it by being constantly guided by the core school values: These are Courage, Honesty, Respect, Inspiration and Stretching our Learning and Thankfulness, which spell out CHRIST, the best example of all. By ensuring these values are interwoven into every aspect of school life, we feel that this will help prepare all children for their journey through life.

Curriculum Intent

Pupils and their families at Winterbourne Earls can expect a RE Curriculum that enables pupils to acquire a rich, deep knowledge and understanding of Christian belief and practice, including the ways in which it is unique and diverse.

Teaching and learning in our Church School will use an approach that engages with biblical text and theological ideas.  Our RE curriculum will engage and challenge our pupils through an exploration of core concepts and questions.  We also us this approach when learning about other world faiths to ensure that our children are able to go on to have a deeper understanding of others and religiously iterate conversations as they enter the wider world.

RE has an important part to play as part of a balanced and coherent curriculum to which all pupils are entitled. High quality learning experiences in RE are designed and provided by careful planning through the ’Understanding Christianity' project. The key purpose of this project is to help to support pupils in developing their own thinking and their understanding of Christianity, as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it. 

The scheme helps children understand about the passage of time with respect to events in the Bible, it supports the study of relevant text and encourages children to reflect on how this text may influence their own views. The teaching of other faiths and the broadening of the content is planned using 'Discovery RE' and supplemented with material from the Diocese.

We explore in depth the beliefs, practices, symbols and actions of Christianity through core concepts including God, Creation, The Fall, People of God, Incarnation, Gospel, Salvation and the Kingdom of God. We also enjoy learning about Islam, Hinduism and Judaism during our RE lessons. Every Year we visit our local church for Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas, Easter and end of year leavers services.

Implementation

The order of our units and the world faiths that we teach explicitly, have been carefully considered. Through the use of Understanding Christianity, our approach to teaching about Christianity builds up pupils’ encounters with biblical concepts through texts, placing them within the wider Bible story. The children will encounter core concepts throughout each key stage allowing them to develop their wider religious, theological and cultural literacy. 

Moral education in RE allows children to learn about shared and differing moral values from religious perspectives while debating moral dilemmas about right and wrong, good and bad etc. In RE children are encouraged to make a personal response to right and wrong and to consider a range of responses to moral issues.

Social education in RE involves children exploring the similarities and differences in religions and cultures through which they should begin to make links between faith and personal action in everyday life. This is reflected in their relations with others in the classroom and their ability to work together cooperatively. Through the study of different religions, children are made aware of the similarities and differences they may have with other children in their class. 

Cultural education in RE includes learning about a range of different religions and traditions; giving children an opportunity to learn what it means to belong, to develop confidence in themselves and be able to respond positively to similarities and differences in our changing multi-ethnic and multi-faith society. 

RE is taught for a minimum of 1 hour per week. Two thirds of our curriculum is Christianity and the other third is another world faith.  In Upper Key stage 2 we also consider other religions and world views. The use of our new Knowledge Organisers supports the understanding of prior learning, end of unit outcomes and key vocabulary.  The  Understanding Christianity project develops their knowledge of Christianity as a living world faith. 

Our RE lessons also include a long-standing close relationship with The Bridge Christian Education Project whose school workers support the vibrant teaching of Christianity with puppets, song and dance, drama and other engaging methods.  Their work is kindly supported by The Mary Butler Trust, a Winterbourne village trust which actively supports Christian education in the locality.

Coming soon will be a Worship Themed Prayer Trail in the Prayer garden. We will be planning for a RE Day annually with a focus on either Sikhism, Islam or Judaism.

Impact

By the time the children at Winterbourne Earl’s leave our school, they will be able to:

• Talk confidently about their beliefs, morals and cultural development for the society in which they live and be able to ask and answer questions about Christianity and other Living World faiths with informed opinions.
• Show respect, tolerance and understanding for all those around them including themselves. Produce high quality work showcasing a deep understanding of the main religions of the world, their community and their future.
• Demonstrate their understanding of religion through use of the correct vocabulary, explanations and respectful opinions, as well as cross-curricular evidence, for example religious and cultural artwork, drama, craft and presentations.

We have high expectations of progress and achievement in the assessment of Christianity. The impact will be seen by all teachers and children enjoying the experience of teaching and learning RE and understanding how it can help them in their future. 

Assessment 

In KS1, pupils are assessed using on-going observation and questioning from staff and these are recorded in individual electronic profile documents. Evidence is used to build up a picture of the child’s achievements and level of independence over time and summative assessments are made each term. 

In KS2, pupils are assessed and can take shape in a number of ways.   Formal written assessments at the end of a unit, evidence in work books showing the pupils understanding, creative work into the class floor books, whole class discussions and teacher observations/monitoring.   The pupils understand key terms i.e. RE,  Digging Deeper and Making Connections through their learning of RE at Winterbourne Earls.

Feedback

We at Winterbourne Earls, very much value the feedback from our pupils themselves and they are given an opportunity to give feedback. These are captured informally (during lessons) but also more formally e.g. through questionnaires/quizzes and comments submitted to the school.

Keep an eye out for the newsletter to see what different classes have experienced in RE throughout the year. 

Please have a look at our Prayer Garden which has been in the process of being developed.  It is for the children to use as a place of reflection, as a place for the children to relax and enjoy.