Religion and World Views
In line with the Cambridgeshire curriculum for Religious Education (R.E.), all year groups at King's Hedges study the religion of Christianity and other religions/World Views as a 50/50 split.
Easter Church Trip – All Years.
Every child in every year group had the opportunity to visit ‘The Church of the Good Shepherd’ in the week following the Easter holidays. The trip was progressive across the year groups and so every year group had a different activity focusing on their enquiry question. Some great Easter themed work took place before and after the trip. Here are some photo’s taken across the year groups of the trip:
Religion and World Views
Vision
Excellence achieved through care, creativity and challenge.
Intent
All pupils are tolerant, open minded and knowledgeable about different faiths.
Implementation
Our Religious Education (R.E.) curriculum is separated into six themes across the year; each theme focuses on a religion with a concept or question to activate children’s deeper thinking. A knowledge organiser with key information and vocabulary to guide pupils, teachers and parents is written for each theme.
The Cambridgeshire Scheme and National Curriculum inform King’s Hedges RE curriculum which is separated into two areas. Pupils are taught to learn about religions and beliefs and they are taught from religions and beliefs, linking this to their own lives. Pupils are able to make connections, deepen their substantive and disciplinary knowledge and become more tolerant of others.
We explicitly teach the beliefs and practices of the following religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism (AT1 - ABOUT). This is repeated and built upon throughout the school to progress and retrieve knowledge, interleaving their learning. We teach the children to critically analyse and articulate this to others, through our oracy projects (AT2 - FROM).
Christianity is taught in every year because the majority of our families who have identified a religion, classify as being of Christian faith. We have a high number of pupils with different faiths, from different backgrounds and with different experiences and opportunities as well as families who do not identify as having a faith. Therefore, we teach 6 core faiths to ensure all families are included and valued and pupils have a wider understanding to promote acceptance of all beliefs now and in the future.
AT2 (FROM) skills are taught through Philosophy for Children questions. These support pupils to explore concepts and are a starting point for pupil discussion. They also allow pupils to practise vocabulary they have learnt, which is taught and modelled by the teacher. Additionally, children’s engagement is sparked through big bangs to introduce new themes.
Impact
Assessment for learning is used by teachers to ensure that pupils build on their knowledge each year and within each lesson through carefully planned questioning and formative monitoring of classwork. Work is designed around carefully evaluated KPIs. Based on this along with work in folders, teachers can determine their class’s next steps and assess if children are working at, below or above age-related expectations.
With the support of knowledge organisers, children can self-assess their substantive and disciplinary knowledge, helping them to recognise the progression of their knowledge throughout their time at school. By revisiting religions, children become more confident making connections between faiths and to their own lives. Children can talk about beliefs and the importance of tolerance. Through the ‘I Can Be’ project, children are further able to see how the skills taught in this subject, such as interpretation and making connections, can be used in future careers.
Enhancements
Visits are organised to places of worship in order to allow children to experience a variety of belief systems first hand. In addition, we have assemblies led by our local Vicar to share more information about Christian beliefs. Visitors from various religions and cultures are invited in regularly to share more about their beliefs. By hearing from people directly, children are able to engage more in the meanings of the religious stories, ceremonies and lived experiences.
