Our R.E. Curriculum

We aim to provide a high quality, well-planned, sequenced and ambitious religious education curriculum. Through R.E. and in line with the aims of Living Difference IV (Hampshire’s Agreed Syllabus) we aim to

• introduce children and young people to what a religious way of looking at, and existing in, the world may offer in leading one’s life, individually and collectively.

Through R.E., we also hope that children will

• mature in their own beliefs and patterns of behaviour, through an exploration of religious beliefs and a questioning and reflective attitude.
• have an opportunity to reflect on what it means to live a religious life or one informed by a non-religious perspective.
• have an opportunity to learn from religions as well as about religions.
• have an opportunity to meet visitors from a wide range of faiths and visit different religious settings to support children in gaining an understanding of religious traditions.

Our Religious Education Curriculum in action

As a Voluntary Controlled Church School, we also provide opportunities to understand the Anglican church year both at school and at the Parish Church. We welcome visitors from St Luke’s Church to share their experience of Christian belief and life at times of worship and in R.E. lessons. As a Church of England School, we also use ‘Understanding Christianity’ to teach children about Christianity. It aims to provide pupils with a coherent understanding of Christian belief and practice as part of a wider religious, theological and cultural literacy. Doing justice to Christianity as a world faith, it aims to raise the level of pupils’ religious literacy, draw pupils into deeper understanding of the Bible, provide them with opportunities to explore how Christian belief and practice are shaped. It makes connections with other areas of belief and understanding and encourages reflection, evaluation and application.

Depending on the topic and the teacher, R.E. will be taught either during a regular weekly session, or in a ‘block’ of a few days.
Reflecting the school’s trust deed, Christianity will be the majority religion studied in each year group and will be at least 50% of curriculum time.

Both Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions in the syllabus) and Dharmic religions (Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh traditions in the syllabus) will be taught across KS1 and 2.
   

• Pupils in KS1 will learn about the Christian and Jewish tradition.
• Pupils in Year 3/4  will learn about Christianity and one other religion, which has not been previously studied. (in the case of St. Luke’s we have chosen the Hindu tradition)
• Pupils in Y5/6 will learn about Christianity and Islam
• Foundation Stage children study concepts that are within children's own experiences and are the basis of concept development in KS1.

This means that by the end of KS2, four religions will have been studied, with the emphasis being on Christianity.

Living Difference IV also encourages Pondering Time, opportunities for children to work on and explore topics, questions or themes of their own choice, at their own speed alone or with others who share the interest. Whilst this is not mandatory, this is an option that we may offer children in Year5/6

In line with the agreed syllabus for Hampshire County Council, ‘Living Difference IV’ (November 2021), an inquiry based approach provides children with an opportunity to explore concepts and begin from their own experiences. There is an emphasis on a spiral curriculum being used to develop and revisit key concepts/words and other materials.

Four concepts have been identified as Golden thread concepts/words that weave through our whole curriculum enabling links to be made with other more complex concepts/words over time. The Golden Thread Concepts are ‘community, belonging, special and love’. They are all concepts that are revisited as children progress through the school.

Our. R.E. Policy can be found via the link below. 

Examples of children's learning and reflections in R.E. can be found below.   For example, in our Y1 Special Books unit we look at the importance of the Bible for Christians and the Torah for Jews; in our Y5 Pilgrimages unit we study the fifth pillar of Islam, Hajj; and in our Y4 God Talk unit we look at both the Christian Trinity and the Hindu Trimurti. Core Literacy skills are also developed through Religious Education teaching, such as writing a balanced argument, communicating ideas clearly and reading religious texts for meaning.  We also teach R.E. creatively and look for opportunities to develop our artistic skills (painting our interpretation of religious concepts) and practical skills (building a sukkah or making a Holi sweet).

As a Voluntary Controlled Church School, we also provide opportunities to understand the Anglican church year and the liturgical calendar.