Religious Education

Religious Education (RE) Intent

At Manor, our RE curriculum enables children to:

• have respect for other people’s views, and celebrate the diversity in society;
• reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding;
• introduce children to a religious way of looking at the world and what this may offer in leading one’s life individually and collectively;
• learn from religions as well as about religions so that they can understand the world around them;
• help children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain (e.g. Hinduism);
• develop an awareness of spiritual and moral issues arising in their lives;
• develop an understanding of what it means to be committed to a religious tradition;
• develop an understanding of religious traditions and appreciate the cultural differences in Britain today;
• develop investigative and research skills, and make reasoned judgements about religious issues;
• appreciate the way that 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.

Implementation

The religious education curriculum forms an important part of our school’s spiritual, moral and social teaching. It also promotes education for citizenship. Our school RE curriculum is based on the Local Authority’s Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference IV (2021), and it meets all the requirements set out in that document. It is recommended that children in Reception and KS1 receive 36 hours of RE per year. At Manor we block RE units to allow children to delve deeper into a concept. The Governing Body has adopted the Hampshire agreed syllabus for religious teaching which is predominantly Christian, but we also explore Hinduism. Religious Education is taught throughout the school in such a way as to reflect the overall aims, values, and philosophy of the school, through topics such as in everyday life.

At Manor we use Living Difference IV as our main syllabus and incorporate elements of Understanding Christianity. We use a concept based approach to build upon children’s understanding by working through the enquiry skills of: Communicate, Apply, Enquire, Contextualise and Evaluate.

Our key principle is that good teaching in RE allows children to both to learn about religious traditions and to reflect on what the religious ideas and concepts mean to them. Our varied approaches include:

• discussion
• research
• handling artefacts
• exploring scared texts
• comparing religions and worldviews through discussion
• using imaginative play or drama to express feelings and ideas
• making visits to religious places of worship where possible, and where not, making use of videos and the internet
• taking part in whole school events (inter faith week, Harvest Festival, school performances)
• responding to images, games, stories, art, music and dance
• meeting visitors from local religious communities
• participating in moments of quiet reflection
• using ICT to further explore religion and belief globally
• participating in collective worship
• debating and communicating religious belief, worldviews and philosophical ideas, answering and asking ultimate questions posed by these

• By recording in a variety of ways and through group work this enables children to extend their own sense of values, and promotes their spiritual growth and development.

We encourage children to think about their own views and values in relation to the themes and topics studied in the RE curriculum. Our teaching and learning styles in RE enable children to build on their own experiences and to extend their knowledge and understanding of religious traditions. We use their experiences at religious festivals such as Easter and Harvest to develop their religious thinking. We organise visits to local places of worship and invite visitors into school to talk about their faith. Children investigate religious and moral issues either individually or in groups.

We recognise the fact that all classes in our school have children of widely differing attainment so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the attainment of the child. We achieve this in a variety of ways, for example, by setting tasks which are open-ended and can have a variety of responses, setting tasks of increasing difficulty; grouping children and providing resources of different complexity, adapted to the attainment of the child.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Pupils are introduced to Christianity and Hinduism. They are taught about traditions, beliefs and world views outside of their own experiences through exploring other cultures and practices in the wider world.

When learning about religion and belief, pupils:

• talk about religious stories, including Bible stories and the stories behind Christmas and Easter;
• recognise some religious beliefs or teachings;
• identify simple features of religious life and practice;
• recognise some religious words;
• name and recognise some religious symbols;
• recognise some Christian religious artefacts, including those in cultural and religious use.

 When learning from religion and belief, pupils:

• recognise their own experiences and feelings in religious stories and celebrations;
• recognise there are similarities and differences between theirs and other’s lives;
• identify what they find interesting about religious events;
• question what they find puzzling in religious stories;
• say what matters to them and to talk about how to care for others.

Key Stage 1

During key stage 1, pupils are taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through religion and belief as well as wider learning themes. They learn about Christianity and Hinduism and can reflect on prior learning as they progress through the units.

When learning about religion and belief, pupils:

• explore a range of religious stories and religious texts and talk about their meaning;
• explore a range of celebrations, teachings and traditions in religions, noting similarities and differences;
• recognise how belonging to a religion is important to people and the impact it has on their lives;
• explore how religious beliefs and ideas are expressed;
• begin to establish a religious vocabulary and suggests meanings for religious symbols.

When learning from religion and belief, pupils:

• recognise there are similarities and differences between theirs and others lives;
• communicate their ideas, ask and respond to questions;
• reflect on what matters to them and others who hold religious views;
• reflect on moral values;
• recognise how religious ideas and beliefs impact people’s lives personally and socially.

Religious education plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, particularly PSHE, in promoting social awareness and understanding in our children. Through religious education in our school we provide opportunities for spiritual development. We help them to recognise the difference between right and wrong, through the study of moral and ethical questions. At Manor, we also encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences. We include and promote British values, ensuring that children are aware of their rights and responsibilities as UK citizens.

We build upon staff subject knowledge to allow the intentions of our RE curriculum to be delivered successfully. We achieve this through regular quality CPD which is provided through our INSET days, external RE network meetings and lesson observations. All staff are encouraged to raise questions, seek support and request further training if needed in order to ensure everyone is confident. Good practice is always shared between staff and all CPD is used to inform teaching and learning across school.

We value the religious backgrounds and beliefs of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others freely.  All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity and we value the links, which are, and can be made between home, school, and a faith community.  We are grateful that the Rev, Alison Bennett from the local church, All Saints' Church, regularly visits our school to carry out collective worship.

We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils.  We promote teaching in Religious Education that encourages open enquiry and first-hand experiences wherever possible for both staff and children.

Inter Faith Week

Each year we take part in inter faith week. This increases awareness of the different and distinct faith communities in the UK, in particular celebrating and building on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society. It also strengthens good inter faith relations and increases understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs. Each class explores a different religion (Judaism, Islam and Buddhism) and developing their own responses. The school then share what they have learnt together. To find out more about Interfaith Week, visit https://www.interfaithweek.org/

R.E. is invaluable in an ever changing world.

Impact

By the time the children leave Manor at the end of Year 2 they will:

• enjoy learning about other religions and why people choose, or choose not to follow a religion;
• make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world;
• develop an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life;
• extend their knowledge and understanding of religions and beliefs;
• develop a religious vocabulary and interpret religious symbolism in a variety of forms;
• reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular world-views;
• explore ultimate questions of beliefs and values in relation to a range of contemporary issues in an ever-changing society.