'Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the fire that fuels lasting love!'

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Intent

Here at St. Thomas’ CE Primary Academy, we believe that our ambitious and engaging RE curriculum is vital for the encouragement and development of the character of our pupils. Linked closely to our Christian values of Respect, Trust, Compassion, Fellowship and Resilience, the RE curriculum contributes to our children’s personal journey of growth, empowering them to live out the British Values as a young citizen. We believe that our rich and varied curriculum provides pupils with the knowledge, concepts and qualities to understand and make natural connections between the beliefs and practices of the range of faiths studied.

Implementation

The teaching and implementation of the RE curriculum is based on the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus through specific units set out across the year. Using a spiral approach, it is taught through the specific concepts of theology, human and social sciences and philosophy across the religions of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, which allows our pupils to be able to explore what is believed about them, understand how people live them and then think about them more deeply. The curriculum units ensure that pupils in Key Stage One and Two have regular opportunities to develop and use disciplinary skills across the year as well as the spiral approach ensuring retrieval of substantive knowledge is possible. Teachers will carefully plan opportunities for questions, low stake quizzes and challenges.

Legally we comply with the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus, and the curriculum ensures that children and St Thomas’ have a wider and deeper understanding of how religious people from different cultures celebrate and practise their beliefs differently. Teachers plan and deliver high quality weekly lessons with the use of resources, texts and experiences. The unit always begins with a ‘Big Question’ that is revisited and discussed through the term whilst broadening and widening vocabulary.  Our teaching and learning approach enables pupils to explore, read and or examine information and practical sources to gain an understanding of what it means for people of faith, whilst supporting them to compare and evaluate the connections within the wider community and world for themselves and others.  At St. Thomas’ we include visits to places of worship, where appropriate, and invite people/groups of faith to join us in leading worship or visit classes to deepen their experiences and knowledge.

Fundamental Knowledge and Skills within the EYFS

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children at St Thomas’ are given the firm, fundamental foundations for Religious Education: they understand their place within our community and develop a sensitivity towards the needs of others. Their world view is broadened with the experiences and the comprehension that people are different and that we embrace people who are different to us.

Within the Early Years setting, every child develops their compassion for others. The opportunities that children have to explore the world around them – and the celebrations that take place around the world - sets them upon a path of having cultural, religious and deep tolerance and respect for themselves and for other people

Impact

Here at St. Thomas’, through the specific teaching of substantive knowledge within the RE curriculum, children will build their knowledge and widen their skills within the subject, whilst all the time developing their own character and curiosity of the world around them, encouraging them to become a confident and expert citizen within the community and wider world.