RE Intent Statement

Intent

At Fawbert and Barnard’s we believe children should be exposed to all different religions, faiths and cultures in order to create a stronger understanding of the complex nature of the world around them. We want to develop children’s thinking so that they are able to grow into free thinkers with the ability to be critical of public discourse, which is crucial in the modern world we live in. We always keep in mind the future of our children and believe it is important that children can grow into adults who can hold academic and knowledgeable discussions about important global matters. We want to build pupils with strong religious literacy who can hold balanced conversations about religion and worldviews.

We value the religious background of all members of the school community and believe RE has an important role for the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. We promote respect towards those with other faiths and beliefs than our own.  We encourage the children to develop their own sense of identity and belonging through self-awareness and reflection. It is important that RE allows children to develop their own personal awareness and therefore, teaching encompasses more than teaching facts about religions. Children can explore their own identity, human relationships, right and wrong and philosophical questions.  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.

Implementation

Currently, we are awaiting the new Essex exploRE document for RE to be released in 2022. Next year, Fawbert and Barnard’s will begin implementing the new guidelines.

At Fawbert and Barnard’s, we have chosen to focus on the 3 main religions that reflect the demographic of our school; Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Each year group has a ‘Big Question’ per half-term to help guide discussion.  The over-arching question allows children to have, not only a deeper level of understanding, but to help the children make connections between religions, make connections with their own lives and with the wider world.

Through our KAS grid, each year group builds on previous learning and takes a spiral approach to RE. This allows children to learn the many links between religions, as well as many connections to their own lives. It allows the children to revisit religions from different perspectives and at different levels.

At Fawbert and Barnard’s Primary School, RE is taught for one session each week across the school or lessons may be blocked when appropriate. LKS2 will have the opportunity to discover RE through thematic learning as set out in the previous exploRE Essex guidelines. They will be able to explore basic similarities and differences between religions before exploring particular religions in depth. The thematic approach will allow them to revisit a theme and apply it in different ways, resulting in a deeper understanding of the subject.

UKS2 will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of principle religions by taking a systematic approach to learning. This means they will explore the key religions in more depth and continue expanding their religious literacy skills. They will begin using their religious knowledge to form their own opinions of the world around them and begin thinking about how the world perceives different religions.

KS1 Religious Education learning will be approached differently to KS2 because it is an entirely new concept for them. Therefore, they will have the opportunity to link all learning with their own experiences. The religion in focus will be Christianity, but they will have the chance to engage with a variety of religions including Islam and Judaism. They will have the opportunity to discuss what is important to them and others, valuing themselves, reflect on their own experiences and develop a sense of belonging.

RE is taught in a variety of ways at Fawbert and Barnard's. Our aim is to engage every pupil with an enquiry approach to learning. Children will be given the opportunity to: handle artefacts, explore sacred texts, respond to images, discuss their understanding with peers and carry out independent research. Children will have opportunities to visit religious buildings as well as meet religious leaders. An enquiry approach allows the children to develop their own understanding and appreciation for the expression of beliefs, cultural practices and influence of religions. It allows the children to learn in a motivating way that encourages interest and helps develop positive and tolerant attitudes towards religions. Discussing religious and philosophical questions will give them the opportunity to communicate, share and grow their own beliefs. We want to encourage the children to develop opinions and not be afraid of discussion and debate. RE lessons will allow children to grow and progress these skills for the future.

Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
• Images and videos of the children’s practical learning.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Learning walks and reflective staff feedback (teacher voice).
• Comparative Assessment