St John the Baptist CE VA Primary School Religious Education (R.E.)

“Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together.”  (from A Statement of Entitlement -Church of England 2019).

At St John the Baptist CE VA Primary School we provide a broad, balanced and coherent curriculum that enables pupils to acquire a rich, deep knowledge of Christian belief and practice, including the ways in which it is unique and diverse. We believe that RE both supports and strengthens what we aim to do in every aspect of school life.  Our caring ethos, and the value which we place on the development of the whole child, spiritually, morally, socially, culturally and intellectually, is reflected in the RE curriculum.

Teaching and learning in our church school uses an approach that engages with biblical texts and theological ideas. Our RE curriculum will engage and challenge our pupils through exploration of core concepts and questions. We  use this approach when learning about all faiths to ensure that the children of St John's are able to go on to have a deeper understanding of other world faiths, their impact on society, culture and the wider world enabling our children to express ideas and insights as they enter the wider world.

At St John the Baptist we use the Hertfordshire Agreed Syllabus of Religious Education (2017-2022) which we use as the basis of our planning and delivery of R.E. The Agreed syllabus outlines the eight key areas that should be covered within each key stage, these include: Belief and Practices, Sources of Wisdom, Symbols and Actions, Prayer, Worship and Reflection, Identity and Belonging, Ultimate Questions, Human Responsibilities and Values and finally, Justice and Fairness. In addition, we use ‘Understanding Christianity’ and ‘Emmanuel Project’ (for the study of world faiths).

The curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced to include a balanced mixture of Christianity and world religions (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Judaism). It is a curriculum that is broad, balanced, and inclusive for all pupils. As a school, we adopt an enquiry- based approach to Religious Education beginning with the children’s own life experience before moving into learning about and from religion. The teaching of R.E. involves some direct teaching and whole class, group, paired or individual activities.  Through a range of strategies, such as: enquiry, exploration, discussion, asking and answering questions, artefacts, visits and visitors of faith and belief, pupils are actively engaged in learning.

At EYFS, R.E. is delivered flexibly according to the statutory requirements of the EYFS. At Key Stage 1 pupils spend 60 hours over 2 years (approximately 10 hours per term). At Key Stage 2 pupils spend 156 hours over 4 years (approximately 13 hours per term). These minimum time requirements include visits and RE curriculum days but not school productions related to festivals, assembly or collective worship time.

Teachers ensure pupils are making good progress within R.E., Understanding Christianity and Emmanuel Project have built in assessments. These assessments include a mixture of formative and summative assessments in order to evaluate pupils’ knowledge on a specific question or religion.

Our Religious Education Curriculum impacts pupils in the following ways:

• Extends their knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith and other world faiths.
• Develops a religious vocabulary and interpret religious symbolism in a variety of forms.
• Reflects on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular worldviews.
• Explores ultimate questions of beliefs and values in relation to a range of contemporary issues in an ever-changing society.