Religious Education

Curriculum Intent

It is our intent to promote the spiritual, moral, social, emotional, cultural and intellectual development of pupils in response to questions of belief and value. We strive to celebrate our own diverse community, promoting respect as well as greater cohesion through the practise of Fundamental British Values.

The aim of religious education is to help children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of principal religions represented in the United Kingdom.

Curriculum Implementation

At Albion Primary School, we do this by planning and teaching lessons that follow the ‘Southwark Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2018’.

Learn about and understand a range of religions and worldviews
Express ideas and insights about nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews
Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews

By encouraging the exploration of and response to fundamental questions of belief and value, we lead our children to gain a deeper understanding and greater awareness of the world and global challenges.

Our pupils learn to:

appreciate the way religious beliefs shape life and our behaviour
develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues
enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

Each half term, every year group focuses on an overarching ‘big question’ which leads the way into a set of key weekly lesson questions. These lend themselves to an enquiry-based approach, leading children to generate their own questions which also fosters a sense of curiosity.

Big Questions

Year 1: What does it mean to belong? Investigating the relation between religion and belonging throughout the year.

Year 2: Can stories change people? Investigating the relationship between religious stories and action.

Year 3: How are symbols and sayings important in religion? Investigating the relationship between religion and symbols.

Year 4: What is special to me and the people in my community? Investigating the relationship between religion and our neighbourhood.

Year 5: How do beliefs influence actions? Investigating the relationship between beliefs and actions.

Year 6: How important are the similarities and differences between and within religions?
Investigating the relationship between secular and religious worldviews.

Our RE lessons are a time to celebrate our own diverse community, promoting respect as well as greater community cohesion. Pupils engage with the Fundamental British Values, which allows them to become reflective citizens who participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.

Key Stage 1

Pupils begin to:

develop an awareness of themselves and others
recognise that there are stories, people, places, times and values that are especially important to themselves and to others
develop their questioning skills to help them to make sense of and respond to the world in which they live
be aware that some questions are puzzling and may not have easy or right answers, even for adults
understand that people’s beliefs and values affect the way in which they live
make links between their own experiences and those of others
make more sense of key concepts and should be encouraged to establish a vocabulary of words related to religion
develop an ability to express their own feelings, reactions and responses
respond to others in appropriate ways

Lower Key Stage 2

Pupils will:

develop their interest in, as well as knowledge and understanding of, different religious beliefs and practices as well as secular world views
begin to recognise diversity within, as well as between, religious and cultural traditions
develop ways of thinking and responding, though some will be more open to different levels of meaning
improve their information gathering skills
use religious and other specialist vocabulary with growing confidence, building on and consolidating their learning from Key Stage 1
talk about and respond to questions about their own beliefs and lifestyles, making comparisons with other people’s experiences

Upper Key Stage 2

Pupils will:

develop an understanding of the connection between beliefs and actions
increasingly understand some of the ways in which cultural and social influences affect how people practice their religion
compare their own beliefs and lifestyles with those of others
identify underlying ideas
use religious and technical vocabulary with greater confidence, explaining symbolism and abstract ideas with increasing depth of understanding
research independently, using a wider range of sources
recognise increasingly that some questions do not have answers or could have a range of answers, depending on beliefs and life experience

Throughout the year, children also take part in a range of trips to the places of worship of the six main world religions. We aim for every child to have visited a mosque, a gurdwara, a church, a Buddhist temple and a mandir during their time at Albion. These experiences bring pupils’ learning to life, allow for the progression of knowledge and skills, and create strong connections and better understanding of the different belief structures within the wider religious community.

Curriculum Impact

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, understand and apply skills related to the three key principles of RE from the Southwark Syllabus and learning themes embedded throughout the half termly units. Assessment criteria has been developed in line with the expectations laid out in the Agreed Southwark Syllabus ‘Steps to Progression’, to enable teachers to assess the progress of the children as they move through the key stages.

Termly summative assessments are used to determine the children’s’ understanding, inform teacher’s planning and further differentiated support for pupils. The quality of the children’s learning is evident through subject leader monitoring, displays and evidence within RE books. The impact of our RE curriculum is also sought directly from the pupils with the subject leader completing short question sessions to gather pupils’ voice on this subject and together with summative assessment, action can be taken to further develop the RE curriculum.