Intent

At Collis we aim for all children to leave our school with a sound knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths, the beliefs and practice of the members of those faiths and how and why people worship in the way they do. Given the locality and ethnic background of our children, it is particularly important at Collis to prepare our children thoroughly for life in multi-cultural Britain so that they develop respect, tolerance, and an appreciation of the cultural differences they will encounter. Our broad curriculum encourages the children to engage with different religious beliefs on important issues and also to develop, enrich and express their own beliefs surrounding these. R.E at Collis provides the opportunity for all children to learn and experience something new which promotes the interest and engagement of every pupil. Our R.E overview ensures children retain knowledge and build on prior learning through the study of each religion every other year. This culminates with a Year 6 self-directed project in the summer term where children choose an aspect of religion to study across all the major faiths, bringing together all the knowledge and skills learnt.

R.E plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, especially PSHCE, in promoting social awareness and understanding in our children. We encourage the children to ask questions about the world and reflect on their own experiences. We include and promote British values, ensuring that the children are aware of their rights and responsibilities as UK citizens.

The National Curriculum for R.E states:

“All pupils are entitled to receive R.E as part of a broad and balanced curriculum at school which promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.”

“R.E is an important subject in itself, developing an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religious beliefs which form part of contemporary society.

                            Rangoli Patterns - Nursery          Visiting a Gurdwara - Year 4

Implementation

At Collis we provide a challenging and robust curriculum based on the Richmond Upon Thames Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. R.E lessons show a progression of knowledge and skills, which enable children to learn in a variety of ways and to deepen their understanding of the R.E curriculum.  R.E is taught in discrete units, each beginning with a question. Teachers are creative and experienced in adapting the schemes of work to meet the needs and interests of their class and to ensure lessons are practical and well –resourced with religious artefacts and objects and have a diverse range of learning outcomes. Lessons involve drama, art, research, debates and computing skills. Visits to religious places of worship are planned to contextualise children’s understanding, cement their learning and help them to make sense of what is happening in the wider world.  We ensure that during their time at Collis they have visited a wide range of religious buildings:  church, mosque, synagogue, Gurdwara and Buddhist temple.

Impact

• Children are assessed on their knowledge and skills in a variety of ways. There is an initial pre- assessment and planning is influenced by this.
• Children make expected progress in line with other core subjects.   
• Children are inspired to extend their knowledge and skills through the delivery of the curriculum.
• Children develop a sense of  tolerance and empathy in line with the Collis 5Cs  (particular focus on Care and Collaboration) 
• Children have an understanding of current global issues and an opportunity to discuss these through lessons, weekly class reflection and assemblies.
• Sticky knowledge is revisited to ensure a deeper understanding.
• Children are able to use relevant vocabulary confidently and this is revised to reinforce prior learning.

If you walk into R.E lessons at Collis, you will see:

• Children participating in meaningful discussion and debate about challenging questions in a safe and secure environment.
• Children showing empathy, tolerance and understanding in relation to world religions.
• Children learning and expressing themselves through drama, conversation, art or extended writing (diaries, story writing, books)
• Children using a range of artefacts to engage interest and provide greater depth and understanding of a topic.
• Religion coming to life for children through images, visitors, resources, artefacts or food tasting.

An example of knowledge progression within our Religious Education curriculum: Hinduism

Some examples of Pupil Voice

Nursery:  ‘We saw Diwali fireworks. I held a lamp so I could see my pattern.’

Reception:  ‘We learnt about Rama and Sita and they fought the monster with lots of arms …..he was called Ravana!’

Year 4:  ‘We thought about how different people feel about Christmas.’

Year 5:  ‘We have learnt that both Islamic and Christian Charities aim to tackle poverty.’

Year 6:  ‘It has been interesting to see all ways in which the Sikh religion shows its belief in equality.‘

Successes

• Visits to various places of worship eg St. Marks Church, Hounslow Gurdwara and Richmond Synagogue
• Regular opportunities to revisit and build upon knowledge. Each religion is studied every 2 years
• Detailed planning and progression of lessons
• Developing the use of knowledge maps linked to each scheme of work to explicitly teach knowledge within each unit.
• Bringing religions to life using engaging resources and visitors
• Creating a culture of tolerance and understanding

Priorities for 2023-24

• Implementation of new Richmond Upon Thames Syllabus
• Book monitoring and learning walks to ensure progression of knowledge and use of assessment
• Implementation of floorbooks in EYFS
• Audit of resources and artefacts