How we learn RE at Earith Primary School.
Intent, Implementation and Impact
Intent:
To provide learners with knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principal worldviews represented in Great Britain.
Reflect the current and future needs of pupils in a world of diverse identities and worldviews.
Understand that religious beliefs and worldviews can be complex, diverse and plural.
Understand that religious beliefs and world views, shape life and behaviour.
Engage pupils in enquiring into and exploring questions arising from the study of religion and belief, so as to promote their personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Encourage learners to develop a positive attitude towards other people who hold worldviews, different from their own.
The school uses the Cambridge Agreed Syllabus in order to support the delivery of the Earith RE Curriculum. The principles of the Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus are:
Substantive knowledge
Ways of Knowing
Personal Knowledge
Implementation:
This is the teachings and knowledge about religious and non-religious traditions.
This is the ‘how to know’ about religion and non-religion, incorporating methods from academic disciplines.
This is how children build an awareness of their own pre-suppositions and the lived experience of adherents.
In line with requirements from the Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus, the following religions have been selected for study:
KS1 – Christianity is studied (and at least one other worldviews – framed within a ‘Big Idea’)
KS2 – Christianity is studied (and at least two other worldviews – framed within a ‘Big Idea’)
The content of the Earith curriculum has been carefully chosen and reflects the worldviews of our students, worldviews within the wider area and worldviews around the world. This is to support the future needs of students within a diverse world, which is linked to our intent.
The RE curriculum has been sequenced in a meaningful way that enables children to make connections and progress, throughout their time at Earith Primary School. This means the knowledge and understanding children will gain, has been carefully specified, ordered coherently and builds over time. The RE curriculum meets the aims of the Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus. As the children work through the RE curriculum, they will know more, understand more, remember more and use this knowledge to build upon their own personal beliefs.
Where appropriate, links are made across subject disciplines to enable children to make meaningful connections. This is further enhanced by teachers referencing how the school’s Key Concepts may link to the particular R.E lesson or unit being taught – building pupils’ schema, over time:
At Earith Primary School, we value the worldviews of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others, freely. All world views are treated with respect and sensitivity, and we
value the lines, which are, and can be made between home, school, and a faith community. We are extremely lucky that Christian Organisation ‘Open the Book’ visits our school fortnightly to teach children (through assemblies) elements of Christianity.
We acknowledge that peoples' religious and non-religious beliefs are not strictly binary; they often intermingle, shaped by their unique life experiences. Therefore, when teaching worldviews, these are framed by Big Ideas (as set out in Cambs RE Syllabus 2023-2028). Within all RE teaching, we encourage dialogue, discussion and curiosity.
Assessment:
Live, verbal feedback and continued formative assessment is used to support and challenge children’s development in R.E. End of unit quizzes may be used to further bolster knowledge retention and love for this subject.
In line with Cambs Agreed Syllabus 2023-2028, there are two progression documents:
1. Knowledge and understanding of religion and worldviews - enquiring into, investigating and understanding religions and beliefs. This includes thinking about and interpreting religious beliefs, teachings, sources, practices, ways of life, and ways of expressing meaning with reference to the specific beliefs and religions studied.
2. Responding to religion and worldviews - questioning, exploring, reflecting upon and interpreting human experience in the light of religions and beliefs studied. This includes communicating reflections, responses and evaluations about questions of identity, belonging, diversity, meaning, purpose, truth, values, and commitments making increasingly insightful links to the specific religions studied.
Impact:
The impact of the RE curriculum is measured in several ways:
Formative assessment:
Teachers respond to the day-to-day emergent needs of pupils, providing support and feedback during the lesson (including at the
start: reviewing prior learning) and in informing the next steps for subsequent lessons.
Knowledge assessment:
Pupils take part in assessment quizzes at the end of each unit of learning to provide an opportunity to recall what they have learnt: this process supports memory retention and recall – knowing more; remembering more.
In EYFS, children’s knowledge and understanding is tracked against the ‘Understanding the World’ Early Learning Goals.
Leadership:
The RE Lead engages with, and leads on, RE CPD to ensure that they, and all staff, have the subject knowledge necessary to deliver the Earith RE curriculum.
The RE Lead monitors and evaluates the RE curriculum through a range of sources: lesson visits/typicality walks, planning scrutiny, pupil learning conversations, response to CPD and teacher review meetings. Triangulated, these sources form the basis of evaluating the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ knowledge & skills. As a result, the RE Lead’s Subject Action Plan is further informed by emerging strengths and priorities. The RE Lead uses our intent for the subject, as specified at the beginning of this document, to underpin their Action Plan. They also draw on relevant research when identifying and leading on actions that will drive the subject forward in our school.
The DT Lead reports to the Earith governing body regarding the quality of education in DT.
Additional information:
Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus 2023-2028
https://www.cambslearntogether.co.uk/asset-library/Agreed-Syllabus-2023-28.pdf
Right to Withdraw
Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE.