Curriculum
Religious Education
Curriculum intent, implementation, and impact
Religious Education
At Wrekin View, we use the Discovery R.E. for Religious Education as a basis for our curriculum, a comprehensive, enquiry based scheme.
We have considered the requirements and guidelines presented in the scheme and the specific regions within our school and therefore have selected the following religions to study:
- Christianity (all year groups)
- Islam (Year 2 and 6)
- Judaism (Year 1)
- Hinduism (Year 3)
- Buddhism (Year 4)
- Sikhism (Year 5)
- In the Early Years Foundation Stage the learning outcomes are referenced to Christianity and as appropriate to a range of other beliefs and cultures
The 2013 Ofsted report on RE, “Religious Education: realising the potential”, suggests
“Using the approach of a philosophical enquiry can deepen and extend pupils’ investigation into religion”.
“In the most effective RE teaching, enquiry is based at the heart of the learning”.
Discovery RE promotes this enquiry approach because it had become evident from teachers and children’s work across hundreds of schools in England, that this motivates in-depth exploration of RE content/subject knowledge in order to answer the big enquiry question. Knowledge is no longer an end in itself, it is now important as the means with which to explore potential answers to the big questions posed in each Discovery RE enquiry.
The four steps are:
- Step 1: Engagement: the children’s own human experience is explored to act as bridge from their world (which may or may not include religion) into the world of the religion being studied.
- Step 2: Investigation: over approximately 3 lessons the teacher will guide the children to explore and investigate appropriate subject knowledge relevant to that question of enquiry.
- Step 3: Evaluation: An assessment activity enables each child to show their thinking and the depth of critical evaluation.
- Step 4: Expression: This refers the children back to the starting point of their own experience and allows them to reflect on whether their findings have influenced their own thinking.
There are no presumptions made as to the religious backgrounds and beliefs and values of the children and the staff. We value the religious background 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 extremely lucky that members of the local church, All Saints Parish Church, regularly visit our school to carry out assemblies and encourage our children to participate in various Christian events throughout the year.
We acknowledge that each religion studied can contribute to the education of all our pupils. We promote teaching in Religious Education that stresses open enquiry and first-hand experiences such as visits to places of worship, and visitors representing different religions.
Teachers are provided with long and medium term overviews and termly planning along with links to resources from the Discovery R.E. scheme. There are also opportunities to co-teach with the Subject Leaders.
