Religious Education at Worthington Primary School

R.E. is part of the basic curriculum. The planning, sequencing and intent used at Worthington School are according to the Leicester Agreed Syllabus for RE (2021-2026)

Intent

At Worthington School we strive to create a nurturing ethos which encourages our children to be open-minded, curious and inquisitive. All of which is reflected in our teaching of Religious Education.

The principal aim of our R.E is to discover what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, allowing our pupils to gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living. This in turn will enable them to be accepting of others, articulate and have a greater understanding of society.

Implementation:

The children will take part in weekly R.E lessons, and the agreed syllabus followed at Worthington sets out experiences, opportunities and appropriate topics for children from Reception to Year 6. Differing year groups have chosen and been allocated units of work to study to ensure development of skills and adequate coverage to meet the aims of RE. The teaching and learning approach adopted within the syllabus has three core elements, which are woven together to give breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs. They are making sense of beliefs, making connections and understanding the impact created by such beliefs. All three of which form part of every Religious Education lesson, balanced in a way that suits the religion, concept and question being explored. Our teaching involves enquiry, reflection, hands-on experience and will include: Visits to places of worship, meeting people from different faith groups, handling religious artefact, using visual aids -photos etc, exploring stories from religious and secular traditions, and most importantly discussion within classes and groups.

The threefold aims of RE (attainment targets) are:

1. To make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs
2. To understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs
3. To make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied,

The agreed syllabus lists in detail the skills to achieve each of one of these aims.

Development of Skills

Progress in RE is dependent on the application of the skills of:

Enquiring, analysing, evaluating, appraising, explaining, recalling, retelling, expressing, synthesizing, observing, responding to, researching, applying knowledge, investigating and discussing.

These curriculum skills are central to RE and all teachers plan to enable pupils to make progress in them throughout their time at Worthington school.

Festivals

To ensure all children feel valued we need to consider our school population and acknowledge and celebrate a range of religious festivals, sharing the experience of our children and making them feel valued.

Assemblies

Assemblies tackle moral issues, strive to engender community cohesion, celebrate festivals and cultures and increase self-worth and sense of belonging. We raise money for different causes and charities throughout the year.

Resources

We have a selection of books for teachers in the RE cupboard as well as bibles and Qu’rans for children to use. We also have a well-stocked library. All children have access to computers and use sites suggested by the Leicestershire syllabus which give interesting facts and videos to enhance their learning.

Community links

We have a good relationship with our local Church. The children have greatly benefited from visits e.g., to a synagogue, a gurdwara and a mandir in recent years.

The Unit for each term is outlined below. For further information on each unit, please look at the Termly Learning Overview for each year group, within the class section.

2022 / 2023 - Year 1
2023 / 2024 - Year 2

Foundation Stage

TERM	FOUNDATION STAGE UNIT
AUTUMN 1	Unit F4: Being Special: where do we belong?
AUTUMN 2	Unit F2: Why is Christmas special for Christians?
SPRING 1	Unit F1: Why is the word ‘God’ so important to Christians?
SPRING 2	Unit F3: Why is Easter special for Christians?
SUMMER 1	Unit F5: Which places are special and why?
SUMMER 2	Unit F6: Which stories are special and why?

Key Stage One

TERM	YEAR ONE	YEAR TWO
AUTUMN 1	Unit 1.10 What does it mean to belong to a faith community?	Unit 1.2 Who do Christians say made the world?
AUTUMN 2	Unit 1.3 Why does Christmas matter to Christians?	Unit 1.3 Why does Christmas matter to Christians?
SPRING 1	Unit 1.1 What do Christians believe God is like?	Unit 1.4 What is the ‘good news’ Christians believe Jesus brings?
SPRING 2	Unit 1.5 Why does Easter matter to Christians?	Unit 1.5 Why does Easter matter to Christians?
SUMMER 1	Unit 1.7 Who is Jewish and how do they live?	Unit 1.6 Who is a Muslim and how do they live?
SUMMER 2	Unit 1.9 How should we care for others and for the world, and why does it matter?	Unit 1.8 What makes some places sacred to believers?

1.3 and 1.5 are split across the two years

Lower Key Stage Two

TERM	YEAR ONE	YEAR TWO
AUTUMN 1	Unit L2.1 What do Christians learn from the creation story?	Unit L2.3 What is the ‘Trinity’ and why is it important to Christians?
AUTUMN 2	Unit L2.2 What is it like for someone to follow God?	Unit L2.7 What do Hindu believe God is like?
SPRING 1	Unit L2.4 What kind of world Jesus want?	Unit L2.8 What does it mean to be Hindu in Britain today?
SPRING 2	Unit L2.10 How do festivals and family life show what matters to Jewish people?	Unit L2.5 Why do Christians call the day Jesus died ‘Good Friday’?
SUMMER 1	Unit L2.9 How do festivals and Worship show what matters to Muslims?	Unit L2.6 For Christians, when Jesus left, what was the impact of Pentecost?
SUMMER 2	Unit L2.12 How and why do people try to make the world a better place?	Unit L2.11 How and why do people mark the significant events of life

Upper Key Stage Two

TERM	YEAR ONE	YEAR TWO
AUTUMN 1	Unit U2.1 What does it mean if Christians believe God is holy and loving?	Unit U2.2 Creation and Science: conflicting or complementary?
AUTUMN 2	Unit 2.8 What does it mean to be a Muslim in Britain today?	Unit 2.11 Why do some people believe in God and some people not?
SPRING 1	Unit U2.3 Why do Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah?	Unit U2.7 Why do Hindus want to be good?
SPRING 2	Unit 2.9 Why is the Torah so important to Jewish people?	Unit 2.5 What do Christians believe Jesus did to save people?
SUMMER 1	Unit U2.4 How do Christians decide how to live? ‘What would Jesus do?’	Unit U2.6 For Christians, what kind of Kind is Jesus?
SUMMER 2	Unit U2.10 What matters most to Humanists, Christians?	Unit U2.12 How does faith help people when life gets hard?