Intent

The R.E. curriculum at Sutton Courtenay gives children strong foundations to explore similarities and ways to connect with people from all backgrounds and the foundations they need to build their lives through core values and the love of each other.  When children learn RE in our school, we are building their knowledge and understanding of the world community in which they live. They grow in knowledge of Christianity and other world faiths.  Thus, they become ready to meet others with an open mind, respectful of others’ beliefs and traditions, and responsible for the environment of which they have custody.

Our RE curriculum is carefully balanced to develop children’s knowledge over three strands: theology, philosophy, and social and human sciences. It enables children to look into aspects of their own lives as well as others in through celebrations, rituals and stories. They encounter this knowledge through study of key themes which underpin the world’s wisdom traditions:  God, people of God, incarnation, creation and fall, salvation, the kingdom of God, and holy texts.

Implementation

We have built our RE scheme of work around key questions as the starting point for planning each unit of work.  However, teaching is responsive to pupils’ prior knowledge and interests, and we look for opportunities to deepen their understanding as a result of the suggested activities. These are arranged in termly units but teachers may move these to different times of the year if these link with the learning in other subjects. The unit planning is supplemented by the resources in the document Understanding Christianity which support responses to the key concepts of our intent. 

The study blocks are arranged so that children encounter the key concepts repeatedly in each year group.  The detail in the scheme of work sets out how the knowledge children gain is built upon. In the Foundation Stage, the focus is on our local church community and on the concept of belonging.  In Key Stage 1, the focus is on Christianity but children begin to explore other religions with a focus on celebrations and rituals.  In Key Stage 2, understanding of Christianity other world religions is deepened through the progressive introduction of knowledge around their origins and the concepts included in metaphorical stories. Throughout the scheme, there is an emphasis on personal growth and community cohesion.

In the Foundation Stage, RE is woven into the topics and provision in the classroom in fluid planning.  In Year 1-6, classes usually have a timetables RE slot each week linking to the unit of planning.  However, sometimes RE may be blocked into longer units of time if this facilitates learning.

Impact

RE is assessed in a variety of ways:

• The children’s responses in lessons – their engagement with activities and the depth of their response to challenging questions
• The children’s care over recorded responses 
• Evidence of children’s growing knowledge that informs their opinions, and their ability to justify these both orally and in written form as they get older.
• The way children are able to relate their learning to the vision and values of the school in pupil voice focus groups
• A summative response is used at the end of the year in reports