Religious Education
Religious Education provides time each week to study a world religion. As a Christian school, we spend the majority of this time studying Christianity.
Through the study of Christianity, we allow children to build up religious literacy and confidence with the Bible as a reliable source for finding out about who God is and what He has done.
We explore how Jesus is at the centre of Christian faith and what that means for our lives today.
We also study other religions because in a multi-culture and multi-faith world it is vital to develop tools to understand and respect other world faiths.
"A new command I give you: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another," (John 13:34).
Inspired by Jesus’ example, the Trent school community aims to
serve one another in love.
We show kindness to others because God has shown us great kindness.
We live thankful lives because every good thing comes from God.
And we persevere, not giving up, because God is our helper.
Intended Curriculum
At Trent, we use the LDBS syllabus and provide an RE curriculum with the aim:
At Trent, we use the LDBS syllabus and provide an RE curriculum with the aim:
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To enable all children to become religiously literate
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To ensure RE enables all children to live life in all its fullness – vision for Education (Church of England)
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To offer a systematic enquiry- based approach to the teaching of RE so that the following skills in children can be developed:
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Ability to be critical thinkers
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Ability to engage critically with texts
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Ability to ask deep and meaningful questions
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Ability to make connections within and across religions and worldviews
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Ability to reflect, respond and express their own religious, spiritual and/or philosophical convictions
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Ability to make their own choices and decisions concerning religion and belief based on a deep knowledge and understanding of religions and worldviews, belief systems, values and practices
Our units of learning...
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Are rooted in theological concepts, strong subject knowledge and content
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Offer a balanced curriculum which enquires into religions and worldviews through theology, philosophy and the human and social sciences
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Offer sequential learning both in terms of knowledge and skills across the primary age range
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Offer motivating, engaging and creative lessons for all children
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Provide opportunities for children to develop empathy towards people of similar or differing religious or worldviews to their own
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To ensure the teaching of RE supports and enhances...
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The Christian vision of the school.
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Contributes significantly to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of children
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Takes note of the Religious Education Church of England Schools – Statement of Entitlement
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The Church of England’s vision for Education – every person deserves to live a ‘life in all its fullness’
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The syllabus has taken note of the 2013 national curriculum framework for RE, taking into consideration the following:
Three strands for RE learning:
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A: know about and understand a range of religions and world views.
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B: express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews
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C: gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and world views
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Six key areas of enquiry:
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beliefs, teachings, sources of wisdom and authority
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ways of living
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ways of expressing meaning
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questions of identity, diversity and belonging
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questions of meaning, purpose and truth
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questions of values and commitments
How the units of leaning have been planned:
Units of learning consist of either one of the following:
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Six weeks’ worth of lessons (the majority of units)
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Four weeks’ worth of lessons (Christmas and Easter units)
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2 weeks’ worth of lessons (exploring a key Christian concept)
Curriculum Delivery
All RE needs to follow careful planning starting with:
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End of unit expectations
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Key concept being explored
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Key religious vocabulary
Each weekly lesson is planned to ensure that children...
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Know what the big theological question is that is being explored throughout the unit
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Given opportunity to learn through enquiry-based learning
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Given opportunities for deep theological enquiry and discussion
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Given opportunities to reflect/express so they can demonstrate their understanding and personal response
Sufficient dedicated curriculum time, meeting explicit RE objectives, however organised, should be committed to the delivery of RE. This should aim to be close to 10% but must be no less than 5% in key stages 1-4. At Trent this works out as 1 hour in Key Stage 1 and 1.5 hours in Key Stage 2.
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To make ensure we are well within these statutory ‘hours’ of RE teaching, we plan an extra RE half day/day per term to explore and embed our school values and Christian ethos.
This works out as 3 Value Days per year:
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Autumn Term - Thankfulness
Spring Term - Kindness
Summer Term - Perseverance
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Every class will create a ‘class big book’ to celebrate and remember the RE work that they complete, as not every lesson will be recorded in pupil books.
Planning
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We use the LDBS assessment grids to guide our planning. This ensures we know what the children need to have learnt by the end of the unit and plan accordingly.
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We ensure all units are enquiry-based and follow the LDBS syllabus.
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For every 6-week Christian unit, we endeavour to have a member of the church visit or go to the church for a visit with the class.
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We try to include at least one visit each academic year to another place of worship linked to the world faith being studied.
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We try to include a visit from a member of a different faith, linked to world faiths being studied.
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For every Christianity unit, we ensure that the key concept that being taught is displayed in the classroom. The Key concept is referred to at the beginning of every lesson, and referred to regularly so children become familiar with vocabulary.
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We encourage a dialogue of question and response in lesson. We want children to ask questions and others to respond whilst the teacher ensures that any misconceptions are addressed.