RELIGIOUS EDUCATION POLICY
SEPTEMBER 2014
AGREED BY GOVERNOR S: TO BE REVIEWED JUNE 2017
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION POLICY
Religious Education is an integral part of the all-round education of the child. We do not seek to urge beliefs
on children or promote one religion over another.
Aims
Religious Education provides opportunities for children to:
• To give a balance in teaching about different faiths
• To give a balance between learning about religions and learning from them
• To give pupils the opportunity to explore their own thinking and beliefs, relating them to what they learn
about a range of religious perspectives and reflecting on them
• To encourage positive attitudes and values to develop through well taught religious education
• To provide opportunities for consideration of different beliefs and ideas to one’s own
• To promote anti-racist education and community cohesion
• To promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC) of pupils
Curriculum
The school follows the Rotherham Agreed Syllabus for R.E.
In all areas of the R.E syllabus we promote an enquiring approach and ask children to reflect on their own
choices, religions, cultures and beliefs.
Foundation Stage 2 RE Plan
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Ourselves: Are we all the same? How are we different?
Harvest: Who shall we thank for our food? How do people show they are thankful?
Festival: How do we celebrate special times? Birthdays, New Year, the seasons
Special Times: How do religious people celebrate special times? Christmas, Divali, Eid
or Hannukah.
Ancient Stories From The Bible:Which is your favourite? Jonah, Noah, David and
Goliath, the Lost Sheep.
Our Feelings: How do these stories make you think and feel?
Being Jewish: What is important to the Jewish boys and girls? Artefacts, symbols,
food, costumes, the Almighty.
Easter Time: What stories do Christians remember at Easter time? How do they
remember Jesus?
Holy Places: Who uses a holy building? What for? Church, Synagogue, Mosque.
Thinking About God: What thoughts and questions do people ask about God?
What answers are there?
Who made our world? What stories do Jews and Christians tell about the Creator?
Care for the Earth? How shall we look after our world?
Year 1 & 2 RE plan
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Myself: Who am I? Children think about apects of identity shown in family, community
and choices.
Belonging to a Community: Where do Jews and Christians belong? Where do I
belong? How family life shows that people belong to a religion, and make links to their
own family.
Celebrations: What matters at Christmas? Children learn about the stories,
customs, celebrations and beliefs of Christmas, and talk about what matters most in
celebrations.
How do we say thank you for our beautiful world? Children learn about creation
stories and the questions they answer, exploring the world of nature.
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Stories: What stories of Jesus do Christians love to tell? Children learn some stories
told about Jesus and stories he told.
Being fair: Stories of Jesus that make you think? From stories about the Good
Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the crucifixion, children consider fairness and its
meaning.
Stories: What stories about Moses do Jews love to tell? From the baby in the
bulrushes, the burning bush, the Passover and Exodus and the ten commandments,
children learn to explore Jewish ideas and celebrations through active learning.
Symbols: What do the symbols of Easter mean to Christianity? Children learn the
stories of the last days of Jesus’ life and about the contemporary celebration of Holy
week, Good Friday and Easter.
Festivals: How do Jewish people celebrate? Using personal experiences such
as parties and birthdays children develop their understanding of festivals and
celebrations to include examples such as Shabbat, Pesach and Hannukha
Leaders and teachers: Children reflect on stories from the lives of people who inspire
because of their faith. They explore: Who is inspiring to me? Who do I follow?
Churches, synagogues: What can we find out? Children discover the uses and
designs of holy buildings and enquire into them, building their knowledge of worship
through visits, models and creative work.
Questions about God: Where could we look for the answers? Using open ended
thinking, holy writings, and stories of leaders and teachers, children raise and talk
about questions about God for themselves.
Year 3 & 4 RE plan
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Christian Stories: What makes Jesus an inspiring Leader? Stories of Jesus’ miracles,
wisdom, parables asking why he is an inspirational leader and why He is an inspiration
to people today. Reflections on ‘being inspired’ for themselves, and they are invited
to identify their own source of inspiration. They explore values and commitments and
they consider what Christians believed about Jesus’ resurrection.
Christians and Hindus: How do Christians and Hindus use art, buildings and music in
worship and community? This unit of work uses cross curricular links to poetry, model
making, art and design and music to explore the architecture, worship and beliefs of
Hindus and Christians, including identifying similarities and differences.
Christian worship: Why do some people find peace and strength by belonging to a
Church? Children enquire into Christian worship and sacred places, with a local focus.
They might identify places of peace, friendliness and thoughtfulness in school, then on
a visit to a local church they enquire into the ways in which worship and the Christian
community show their beliefs about peace, community and reflection.
Christian values: What matters most to Christians and what matters most to me?
Pupils use active learning to explore non-religious ways of being good as well as
Christian ideas, and work to express their own ideas about rules and values. They
learn about the ten commandments, the 5 rules and shared values such as honesty,
kindness, open-mindedness & compassion.
How and why do Hindu people worship their gods and goddesses at home and at the
mandir? Introduce Hindu practice to pupils. They discover how and why Hindu people
worship at home and in the mandir, considering symbolism, stories, beliefs and values
for themselves.
Christian and Hindu answers to questions; what is God like? What matters most in
life? What happens when we die? This unit explores Christian and Hindu beliefs about
God and about Life’s journey through stories, examples and practices. Pupils make
thoughtful and creative responses, through vehicles such as Philosophy for Children
to raise questions of wonder.
Year 1 & 2 RE plan
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Myself: Who am I? Children think about apects of identity shown in family, community
and choices.
Belonging to a Community: Where do Jews & Christians belong? Where do I belong?
How family life shows that people belong to a religion, and make links to their own
family.
Celebrations: What matters at Christmas? Children learn about the stories,
customs, celebrations and beliefs of Christmas, and talk about what matters most in
celebrations.
How do we say thank you for our beautiful world? Children learn about creation
stories and the questions they answer, exploring the world of nature.
Stories: What stories of Jesus do Christians love to tell? Children learn some stories
told about Jesus and stories he told.
Being fair: Stories of Jesus that make you think: from stories about the Good
Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the crucifixion, children consider fairness and its
meaning.
Stories: What stories about Moses do Jews love to tell? From the baby in the
bulrushes, the burning bush, the Passover and Exodus and the ten commandments,
children learn to explore Jewish ideas and celebrations through active learning.
Symbols: What do the symbols of Easter mean to Christianity? Children learn the
stories of the last days of Jesus’ life and about the contemporary celebration of Holy
week, Good Friday and Easter.
Festivals: How do Jewish people celebrate? Using personal experiences such
as parties and birthdays children develop their understanding of festivals and
celebrations to include examples such as Shabbat, Pesach and Hannukha
Leaders and teachers: Children reflect on stories from the lives of people who inspire
because of their faith. They explore: Who is inspiring to me? Who do I follow?
Churches, synagogues: What can we find out? Children discover the uses and
designs of holy buildings and enquire into them, building their knowledge of worship
through visits, models and creative work.
Questions About God: Where could we look for the answers? Using open ended
thinking, holy writings, and stories of leaders and teachers, children raise and talk
about questions about God for themselves.
Year 5 & 6 RE plan
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Muslims: What difference do the Five Pillars of Islam make to Muslim children’s lives?
This unit enquires into the practice of belief, prayer, fasting, giving and pilgrimage in
Muslim life, with a focus on children in the community.
Can Islamic Relief and Christian Aid change the world? This unit connects elements
of enterprise, ICT and global citizenship with the work of two major faith based
development charities.
Christian: How and why do Christians try to live by the Bible? By exploring the ways
Christians use the Bible to shape their values and behaviour, pupils learn from the
rules, stories and commandments, and teaching of the Bible, clarifying their own
ideas.
Muslims and Christians: Who is inspiring? Pupils learn from stories of the Prophet
Muhammad and Muslims alive today, and from the Lord Jesus, and Christians alive
today.
Muslims: Why are there now over 50 mosques in Yorkshire? This investigation uses a
virtual or real tour of a mosque to explore Muslim community life. They find out about
the use and significance of the Qur’an.
What will make Rotherham a more peaceful and respectful place? Pupils bring
together their learning about the ways religions offer a path to peace. They consider
how people who are different can live together well, and create a spiritual charter for
peace in Rotherham.
Equal Opportunities & SEND
Legislation provides an entitlement for all pupils to a broad and balanced curriculum. A wide range of ability
and experiences exists within any group of pupils. Teachers need to be able to provide equal opportunities
in learning through a flexible approach and skills which differentiate teaching and learning, matching the
challenge of RE work to individual learners’ needs.
Pupils have a wide range of backgrounds and needs, including learning, emotional and behavioural
difficulties. In RE these may be accentuated by differences of home and faith backgrounds. It is important
to recognise that all pupils can achieve in RE, and teachers have the task of unlocking that potential and
facilitating that achievement.
Collective Worship
Collective worship follows themes that in the main are Christian based. Children are presented with ideas
to consider, religious stories, moral and ethical viewpoints and religious celebrations and festivals. During
assembly children will be presented with issues that promote awe and wonder and spirituality.
Monitoring & Evaluation
The headteacher will monitor and evaluate the teaching and learning of RE by scrutinising planning, observing
teaching and learning and speaking to pupils.