Religious Education

OUR RE CURRICULUM AIMS

KS1:

RE objectives from the local non-statutory SACRE guidance - Harmony and Diversity: Religious Education in Leicester City.

Learn about religion and worldviews (knowledge and understanding)
Learn from religion and worldviews (response, evaluation, application and questions)

EYFS (Development Matters 2021):

Notice differences about people.
To recognise that people, have different beliefs and celebrate times in different ways.
To develop positive attitudes about the difference between people.
Celebrate and value cultural, religious and community events and experiences.
Understand that some places are special to members of their community.
Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.

APPROACH

EYFS

In EYFS, RE is taught through festivals throughout the year. For each celebration, nursery and reception spend a week learning about and learning from the religion. Additionally, the EYFS area of learning ‘people, culture and communities’ is also covered throughout the year within larger topics but is mostly taught within the festival weeks.

In EYFS, the intent of the RE curriculum is to ensure that pupils are exposed to the different religions, traditions and festivals which will allow them to begin understanding the differences and similarities. Pupils will identify how each festival is celebrated and start to make simple links to their own celebrations.

Catherine Infant school understands the importance of the early experiences and RE has an important role in enriching the experiences of pupils. To engage our pupils in the RE curriculum they are provided with a range of resources and artefacts. Pupils will explore artefacts through continuous provision and play.

KS1

In KS1, RE is taught through topic teaching, discrete teaching during religious festivals, celebrating festivals and theme days. Learning experiences are enhanced by pupil visits to different local places of worship and visitors into school. In each year group one religion is taught over one term in greater detail.

Within year 1, pupils will learn about who is a Christian and what do Christian stories teach us? Pupils will learn about what makes someone a Christian, what do they believe in, who are the important people in the religion, the religious stories and what they can learn from them.

In year 2, pupils will learn about who is a Hindu and what is special to them? Pupils will build on their knowledge from year 1, in particularly from the Diwali festival day. Pupils will learn about what makes someone a Hindu, what do they believe in, who are the important people in the religion, the religious stories and what they can learn from them. Finally, they will learn about the place of worship and discuss how Hindus worship.

WIDER OPPORTUNITIES

Theme Days, Celebrations and Trips

RE is taught through topic teaching, discrete teaching during religious festivals, celebrating festivals and theme days. Learning experiences are enhanced by pupil visits to different local places of worship and visitors into school.

Our pupils take part in celebrations throughout the year such as Harvest, Navratri dancing, Diwali, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Holi, Vaisakhi, Easter and Eid-al-fitr.

Pupils in KS1 visit places of worship to enrich their learning and to experience different beliefs. Year 1 pupils visit a Church and Gurdwara while Year 2 pupils visit a Mandir and a Mosque.

In Catherine Infant School parents are equally involved in their child’s learning. Termly, home learning projects are set where the parents can help their child in their learning. During autumn term 2, KS1 pupils are asked to create a model of a place of worship related to their next topic unit. Year 1 make a Church model while year 2 make a Mandir.

Collective Worship

Collective worship provides us with the opportunity to build the spiritual and moral life of the school and the individuals within it. Through worship we aim to offer pupils a spiritual dimension to their lives and relationships.

Our school is an inclusive community school, that is a place where pupils of all abilities, all faiths, and all cultures are welcomed and respected. In this school, we actively seek to break down any potential barriers to learning, specifically any practice which excludes individuals or groups of pupils.

We have been granted the Determination by Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE).

Collective worship is a daily requirement and takes place every day at our school. There is a weekly theme on collective worship which pupils are introduced to on Monday through a moral story, some related to a religion and fables. Pupils reflect on this theme throughout the week with the help of reflection questions. Pupils take part in ‘Time for reflection’ daily. During this time, pupils reflect on a question or they pray to their God if they wish to. Time for reflection takes place twice within the classroom and three times during assembly.