RE at Turners Hill C of E Primary School is intended to reflect our school motto of “Stewards of the Earth, Eager to Learn, Faithful to God.” We want our curriculum to provoke challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. Our pupils learn about and from religions and world views whilst developing their ideas, values, and identities. We strive for them to be able to clearly and coherently articulate their personal beliefs, ideas, values, and experiences while respecting the right of others to differ. We aim for RE lessons to offer a structured and safe space for reflection, discussion, dialogue, and debate.

Implementation

RE is taught discretely, mainly taking the form of weekly lessons but is sometimes blocked into whole morning or afternoon sessions. Key Stage 1 and EYFS have a minimum of 36 hours a year and Key Stage 2 have 45 hours. At least once a year, we have RE days in which a very creative, hands on, whole school approach is taken to an aspect of RE.

We deliver the West Sussex Agreed Syllabus 2020 through two main resources. At least 50% of our curriculum explores Christianity and is primarily underpinned by the Understanding Christianity resource pack. This resource focuses on three aspects of Christianity: Exploring the text, looking at the impact of the text for individuals and communities and reflecting on what has been learned and making connections. The other main scheme of work is the Emmanuel project; we use this to learn about Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.

In Key Stage 1, children develop an understanding of Christianity. In addition, they begin to build knowledge and understanding of Judaism (important festivals, people, places and texts); Islam via the prophet Muhammed; and Hinduism through the festival of Diwali.

In Lower Key Stage 2, pupils continue to deepen their understanding of Christianity whilst learning about more about Islam and Hinduism.

In Upper Key Stage 2, they revisit Judaism, are introduced to Buddhism and explore other world views including Atheism and Humanism. As the children progress through the school, they are offered more opportunities to compare religions, looking for commonalities and themes that link them, as well as finding differences. Children are encouraged to reflect on their own responses to what they have learned about, to ask and answer their own questions and to have ownership of some of the lines of inquiry we investigate. They can share their own beliefs, values and views in a mutually respectful manner.

The Understanding Christianity part of the syllabus works on a spiral curriculum, building knowledge and skills over the course of their time with us. The strands of RE learning comprise several themes:

• God
• Creation
• Fall
• People of God
• Incarnation
• Gospel
• Salvation
• Kingdom of God.

Pupils explore the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus, within this wider historical and theological context. Planned progression built into the RE curriculum means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school, building upon their knowledge of these areas. Progress in RE can be characterised by:

• Acquiring wider and more detailed knowledge of religious beliefs and practices
• Deepening understanding of the meaning of stories, symbols, events and practices
• More fluent and competent use of religious language and terminology
• Increased levels in skills of responding to questions of identity, meaning, purpose, values and commitment.

Impact

Teachers assess children’s work in RE by making informal judgements as they observe them during lessons and through evidence in children’s books. Children are encouraged to self, peer and group assess work in a positive way. As part of our assessment for learning process, children will receive verbal and written feedback in order to aid progress in the subject. Summative assessment is undertaken during the year. Monitoring takes place through learning walks, observations, pupil voice, teacher voice, the use of external specialists and reflective teacher feedback. Progress is reported to parents at the end of the year. (link for more details:http://www.understandingchristianity.org.uk).