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RE

“'Every state-funded school must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based, and which:

  • Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils.
  • Prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.”

‘The National Curriculum in England: Framework document’, September 2013

Religious Education curriculum statement

Part of the broad, balanced curriculum here at Lindfield is the teaching of Religious Education (RE). We believe that all children, from any faith or culture, should feel welcomed into the school community and this is fostered through the learning and exposure to a variety of religions and worldviews.

Our academy follows the Discovery RE scheme of work, which fosters an enquiry-based approach to our RE learning.

Our curriculum intent for RE

With these aspirations, our intent for the RE curriculum are:

  • To know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews.
  • To express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews.
  • To gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews.
  • To respect ideas, religions and worldviews which may differ to our own.
  • To have opportunities to gain cultural capital both within school and in the local community.

Through our curriculum, we hope for children to develop a secure understanding of the knowledge and concepts surrounding RE as well as developing positive attitudes to cultures and beliefs which vary from their own.

We will implement these intentions by:

The school follows a curriculum created by ‘Discovery RE.’- this scheme of work ensures that we are teaching about a multitude of religions that are revisited throughout the Key Stages to enable a progression of learning across the school.

In Early Years the children spend time exploring the religions of Christianity and Judaism in the first two terms. The children think about the celebrated festivals in the Christian calendar, linking this to the celebrations in Judaism. The final term brings this together with exploring special stories and places of a multitude of religions.

Years One and Two build upon this teaching as the children look in more depth at what Christians believe - the children take time to ask ‘Big Questions’ and make connections across religions. The children also learn about Judaism in Year One and are introduced to Islam in Year Two.

Key Stage Two builds upon the learning of Christianity, Sikhism, Judaism and Islam with the addition of Hinduism in Year Three. The children are encouraged to think critically and ask questions of a religion as each half term focuses on a ‘Big Question’.

These religious topics have been chosen specifically from the ‘Discovery RE’ scheme to support and make links with our topics as part of the creative curriculum.

We also have a weekly ‘Community’ assembly in which local faith groups come to talk with the children. These include several local churches and other organisations.

The impact of this learning

By the end of KS1 children will be able to:

By the end of KS2 children will be able to:
  • Recall and name different beliefs and practises.
  • Retell and suggest meanings to some religious and moral stories.
  • Recognise different symbols and actions linked with religious communities.
  • Ask and respond to questions.
  • Observe and recount different ways of expressing identity and belonging.
  • Notice and respond sensitively to similarities between religions and worldviews.
  • Explore questions about belonging, meaning and truth.
  • Find out about examples of cooperation between people who are different.
  • Find out about questions of right and wrong.
  • Describe and make connections about different religions and worldviews.
  • Describe and understand links between stories and other aspects of different communities.
  • Explore different beliefs, symbols and actions.
  • Observe and understand varied examples of religions and worldviews.
  • Understand challenges of commitment to a community of faith.
  • Spot similarities and differences.
  • Discuss and present thoughtfully their own views.
  • Consider how diverse communities can live together.
  • Research and answer ethical questions.

What's on?

Throughout the year, local churches in Lindfield have kindly been coming into our Wednesday community assemblies. This term, both KS1 and KS2 have been exploring Pentecost and many other stories from the gospels. In the picture below, we were learning about the story of Martha and Mary and the importance of listening.

Community Crew!

The Community Crew have been really busy over the last couple of terms! We’ve been visiting local places of cultural importance in the community. In October, Year 5 and 6 Community Crew members visited St Paul’s Catholic Church in the town. We were shown around by the deacon and asked lots of brilliant questions. This term, the Year 3 and 4 Community Crew visited Haywards Heath mosque. We spoke to the imam, who told us about the different parts of the building. We found out several interesting facts, including that the mosque was built at an angle of 190 degrees to face Mecca. We then created a fantastic assembly to share our learning with the rest of KS2 and celebrate the diversity we can find in Haywards Heath. Great job!