Intent
At Farsley Springbank we offer a comprehensive RE curriculum, in line with the Leeds agreed syllabus, with the view that all children benefit from a comprehensive and open appreciation for religious practice and why people choose or have inherited their practice. As a non-faith school we feel it is particularly important that in order to grow up as respectful and tolerant citizens, children must understand the differences between religions and their systems of belief as well as how our community is made up.
RE is a statutory expectation, and though parents have the right to withdraw children from RE lessons, they will need to meet with the head teacher and RE subject leader to justify their decision.
“Religious Education makes a distinctive contribution to the school curriculum by developing pupils' knowledge and understanding of religion, religious beliefs, practices, language and traditions and their influence on individuals, communities, societies and cultures. The new Agreed Syllabus for Leeds contributes to a coherent curriculum that promotes continuity. It facilitates the transition of pupils between schools and phases of education and can provide foundations for further study and lifelong learning.”
(Leeds Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, 2019-2024)
Implementation
We use the scheme of work Believing and Belonging: The Local Agreed Syllabus for RE in Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds to plan lessons for Years 1-6.
RE is taught weekly for an hour or may be condensed down into longer blocks depending on timetabling. We aim cover the Learning Objectives set out in the Scheme of Work and follow the RE Long-Term plan to ensure the content is taught in the specified order. The scheme has a suggested number of hours for each topic and to ensure the coverage across the school, we have set a long-term plan (see document below) This allows for flexibility in the timetabling of RE where necessary.
We will adapt the scheme to meet the needs of the children offering the opportunity to retell religious stories and understand religious practice, ask philosophical questions and evaluate morality and equality across their learning. The curriculum is structured over year groups so that children will have the opportunity to develop their understanding of a religion in a focus unit for religions in certain year groups before moving on to build links between religious practices through time and across the wider world. By studying a range of civilisations and cultures, children develop a sense of key concepts such as continuity and change and similarities and differences.
Where appropriate links will be made across the curriculum developing skills in subjects such as computing, geography, history, art, science, maths and English with the core RE focus still remaining.
We aim to teach through the use of:
In Reception, the children follow the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. RE is covered in a cross curricular way as part of topics such as Easter, Diwali, Chinese New Year and Christmas through Understanding the World and PSED. The teachers follow the children’s interests and ensure that RE content is adapted according to a particular cohort and their religious background and practice. In Reception, much of the children’s learning is independent through play, however adult-led activities will comprise art, music, circle times, religious stories, looking at artefacts and opportunities for deeper questioning.