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, rooted and grounded in love for all, ensures a high-quality sequential religious education. It prepares all children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain. Central to our curriculum is Christianity as a living and diverse faith, focused on the teaching of Jesus and the Church. Weaved throughout our RE curriculum is a thread of diversity, ensuring children have the knowledge that communities are inclusive and to foster understanding and respect for a range of religions and worldviews.

Our RE curriculum will engage and challenge our children through an exploration of core concepts and questions. Pupils will be a part of meaningful and informed dialogue with a range of religions and worldviews and will have opportunities to understand the role of foundational texts, beliefs, rituals, and practices and how they help form identity in a range of religions and worldviews. Pupils will explore how these may change in different times, places and cultures. RE will go beyond a sociological study of religious phenomena and will introduce pupils to a range of relevant disciplines including theology, philosophy and the human and social sciences.

 

Implementation

Teachers plan from the agreed long-term planning and our progression document which identifies key substantive knowledge and uses the disciplinary lenses of ‘believing’, ‘living’ and ‘thinking’ to scaffold learning”. These are underpinned by the agreed Diocesan Syllabus. R.E. is taught in weekly discrete lessons. Teachers adapt the planning to best support the progression of pupils in their class, consulting with the subject leader if there is any major variation. Opportunities to positively reinforce learning through global or national events are used, through whole school focus and within the classroom. 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 – pupils get better at RE over time. It focuses on recall of prior knowledge, (connect), the teaching of new knowledge and skills (I do), modelling and scaffolding (we do) and independent, enquiry based learning (you do).

The following pages set out the content of the religious education curriculum at our school including our progression documents for substantive and disciplinary knowledge, including the key golden threads that run from EYFS to Year 6.

Our religious education curriculum follows the Leeds/York Diocesan Syllabus.

 

In Hope Sentamu Learning Trust schools, high quality RE is provided for all pupils, which is inclusive and broad minded. RE in our City of York and North Yorkshire schools is taught in accordance with the local Agreed Syllabus for York and North Yorkshire. Manor CE Academy and Forest of Galtres Primary both follow the Diocese of York RE Syllabus.

Right of Withdrawal

Parents/carers do have the right to withdraw pupils from RE lessons, or any part of the RE curriculum. If you wish to do this, please make an appointment with the RE subject leader in school. HSLT does not support selective withdrawal from RE.

Our schools have a duty to supervise pupils withdrawn from RE, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra cost. Where the pupil has been withdrawn, alternative arrangements will be made for RE of the kind the parents/guardians want the pupil to receive. These arrangements will be made by the parents/guardians. The school is not expected to make these arrangements. This RE could be provided at the school in question, or by another school in the locality. If neither approach is practicable, the pupil may receive external RE teaching as long as the withdrawal does not significantly impact on the child’s attendance.