RE

RE

We at Elston believe Relgious Education is the heartbeat of our school.  It should equip pupils with knowledge beyond their own experiences and personal beliefs.  A chance to go on a spiritual journey not only discovering the world around them but most importantly who they are in the world.  In a local area, often lacking in diversity, it is Religious Education that allows pupils to gain a deeper understanding of others' faiths.

Intent

At Elston All Saints our Christian values are at the centre of everything we do.

We want our RE curriculum to help everyone in our school community grow in faith; by recognising all our unique gifts and talents and to develop a strong sense of identity in the world. We deliver an RE curriculum that enables our children to make a difference in society and to thrive in the world, fulfilling God's plan for them.

 In RE, children will acquire essential skills:

  • to have knowledge and understanding of a range of scripture and the life and work of key figures in the history of the People of God.
  • to have knowledge and understanding of a range of beliefs and to make links between beliefs, worship and life.
  • to know what it means to belong to a church community, understanding some of the liturgical year celebrations, Sacraments and different liturgies.
  • to be reflective in asking questions of meaning and purpose and acknowledge others' points of view and to be able to support their own views.
  • to be able to choose to live good lives, to excel as members of society-working for the common good as an example to others through their words and actions

Implementation

Curriculum

As an Anglican Methodist Primary School, Religious Education is a core subject within our curriculum. We teach RE according to the Nottinghamshire Agreed Syllabus and use 'RE Today' scheme as a resource to support our teaching and learning of all faiths and world views. This particular resource has been carefully selected to support us in delivering curriculum content through intriguing key questions and allowing children to build upon prior knowledge.

Using the combined curriculum approaches allows children to develop a well-rounded view of religious practices and are able to display both substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

We teach eight core concepts of Christian belief and revisit these a number of times as children move throughout the school. These core concepts can be found in our RE Curriculum Overview below. Overall, they tell the 'big story' of the Bible and are taught through key questions. 

Learning in each concept is encountered via three elements:

  • Making sense of the text: children learn to read and interpret biblical texts and make sense of its meaning to Christians
  • Making connections: children evaluate and reflect on texts and concepts they have studied and learn to make links to their own lives and ways of understanding the world.
  • Understanding the impact: children examine ways in which Christians apply the Bible day-to-day and how Christian thought has influenced 21st century thinking and living. 

We value the importance of our pupils’ understanding where in the 'big picture' of the Bible each concept fits in. Children regularly refer back to the 'big frieze'; an illustrated timeline which supports pupils in visualising Christianity over time.   

Our RE curriculum is enriched further with daily Collective Acts of Worship, visits from members of our diocese, regular visits to our local church and a reflection area to reflect on our learning journey.

Classroom Reflection Area and Journal

Each class has its own reflection area which provides children with an age-appropriate area in which to further respond to the current global events. Children offer prayers, thoughts and messages of reflection here and within a reflection journal which displays religious and non-religious reflections.

Worship Whizzers

Our pupil led worship team are a real asset to our worship offer at Elston All Saints. They plan and deliver thought provoking whole school worship and keep up to date with current themes through training and regular meetings with the teacher lead. They contribute greatly to the whole school pupil voice teams.

Impact

Our RE curriculum is rich and varied, enabling children to gain a thorough knowledge and understanding of a range of faiths and world views. By the time children leave our school they will:

  • Ask and offer possible answers to challenging questions about the meaning of life, beliefs, nature of reality and morality.
  • Have a secure understanding and knowledge of the religions studied and be confident to answer ultimate questions.
  • Have the ability to ask significant and reflective questions about religion and demonstrate a good understanding of issues relating to the nature, truth and value of religion.
  • Have a sense of self, identity and belonging to flourish within the community and be responsible citizens.
  • Show respect, tolerance and understanding of all religions and beliefs.
  • Have a strong understanding of how the beliefs, values, practices and ways of life within any religion come together.
  • The ability to link the study of religion and belief to personal reflections on meaning and purpose.
  • The ability to exemplify the School’s Christian values in all aspects of life that are rooted in the teachings of the Bible

Individual RE journal books provide children with a chance to reflect and revise previous knowledge. Digital evidence is stored which include, photos, videos and digitally produced work. 

Opportunities for both formative and summative assessment are regular. The use of intro/outro activities to check prior or new learning are evident in day to day practice and make the retrieval of knowledge engaging.

End of Agreed syllabus unit assessments are used periodically to enable staff to assess a pupil’s progress against a summative style Big question.

Click to Download Planning Overview Year A and Year B 2023 2024 [pdf 468KB] Click to Download