Religious Education

At Forest of Galtres, we aim to celebrate diversity and offer a welcoming and inclusive environment for all our pupils. We believe that Religious Education (RE) provides an opportunity to celebrate and foster awareness of these differences within our school and the wider world. It is a subject that celebrates diversity.

Intent

Our RE curriculum is underpinned by RE Today which is linked to our Diocesan Syllabus, and Understanding Christianity. Through RE pupils will develop religious literacy and knowledge of significant religious worldviews including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. Our curriculum is driven by our strong Christian vision to enable our children to thrive and ‘become the best that they can be’. Our curriculum aims to nurture unique individuals, who are well-equipped to make informed choices through a wide range of diverse experiences and opportunities.

“We are rooted and grounded in love”
(Ephesians 3:17)

Our curriculum enable pupils:

• to know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core beliefs using an approach that critically engages with biblical text.
• to gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studied.
• to engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience.
• to recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places.
• to explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.

Implementation

Teachers plan from the agreed long-term planning and progression document which identifies key substantive knowledge and uses the disciplinary lenses of ‘believing’, ‘living’ and ‘thinking’ to scaffold learning. Teachers use RE Today to support their planning which is linked to our Diocesan Syllabus and understanding Christianity. 

RE is taught in weekly discrete lessons. With support from the subject leader, teachers enhance the planning to best support the progression of pupils in their class. Whole school celebrations e.g. Eid is used to support the learning of religions and worldviews. Lessons require pupils to develop their ability to analyse, evaluate and compare between their developing understanding and prior learning about religions and worldviews.

The FOG Learning Cycle ensures children know more and remember more. It focuses on recall of prior knowledge, (connect), the teaching of new knowledge and skills (I do), modelling and scaffolding (we do) and independent, inquiry based learning (you do). 

Impact

Appropriate to their age at the end of their education at our school, pupils are able to: 

• Give a theologically informed and thoughtful account of Christianity as a living and diverse faith.
• Show an informed and respectful attitude to religions and non-religious worldviews in their search for God and meaning. 
• Engage in meaningful and informed dialogue with those of other faiths and none.
• Reflect critically and responsibly on their own spiritual, philosophical and ethical convictions.

Skills in RE

Pupils develop key skills in RE in order to enhance learning and this should be evident across key stages: 

1. Investigation and enquiry: asking relevant and increasingly deep questions; using a range of sources and evidence, including sacred texts; identifying and talking about key concepts. 
2. Critical thinking and reflection: analysing information to form a judgement; reflecting on beliefs and practices, ultimate questions and experiences. 
3. Empathy: considering the thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes, beliefs and values of others; seeing the world through the eyes of others. 
4. Interpretation: interpreting religious language and the meaning of sacred texts; drawing meaning from, for example, artefacts and symbols. 
5. Analysis: distinguishing between opinion, belief and fact; distinguishing between the features of different religions. 
6. Evaluation: enquiring into religious issues and drawing conclusions with reference to experience, reason, evidence, and dialogue.

Disciplinary RE

These are the “lenses” we look through that help pupils develop specialised knowledge and specialised skills associated with RE.

Golden Threads for RE 

Christianity

One God who is a Trinity

God created the world and wants relationships with humans, but humans have damaged it (the Fall)

Jesus heals the damaged relationship between God and humans through his death, crucifixion and resurrection

The Bible is a key source of authority 

Christians live out their beliefs in different ways.

Islam

One God

God wants humans to keep things in harmony and give them a straight path (shariah) to follow

There is guidance to help humans follow the straight path, including the Prophets

The Qur’an is a key source of authority for Muslims

Muslims live out their beliefs in different ways

Judaism

Religious Jews believe in one creator God

God enters into a series of covenants (contracts) with his chosen people and these set expectations for moral and social behaviour.
Community The family and home are very important in Jewish Life.  

The land of Israel is at the heart of Jewish identity for many Jews all over the world.

Jewish people live out their beliefs in different ways

Hinduism (KS2 only)

Brahman, the Ultimate Reality / Life Force

Atman (soul) – the bit of Brahman living in everything

Samsara, the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth that every atman is on

Moksha (liberation from samsara), the ultimate goal of every atman

The way to achieve moksha is for the atman to fulfil its dharma in every cycle of life

Hindus live out their beliefs in different ways.