While the religious divisions in our world are self-evident, many people still imagine that religious conflict is always caused by lack of education, by poverty, or by politics.
Sam Harris

Vision for Saltburn children

It is our intent for the Religious Education element of our school curriculum to engage, inspire, challenge and encourage pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore different religious beliefs, values and traditions and develop a more rigorous understanding of the numerous religious traditions, beliefs and practices that are followed in our multi-cultural society. We recognise that Religious Education has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. We want pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular for those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. It promotes discernment and helps pupils to combat prejudice.

Aims

Through robust teaching practices, we aim to develop core areas for our children as they engage in the study of Religious Education with enthusiasm and passion:

LEARNING ABOUT RELIGION AND WORLDVIEWS How pupils develop their knowledge, skills and understanding with reference to: • beliefs, teachings and sources • practices and ways of life • expressing meaning.	LEARNING FROM RELIGION AND WORLDVIEWS How pupils, in the light of their learning about religion and worldviews, express their responses and insights with regard to questions and issues about: • identity, diversity and belonging • meaning, purpose and truth • values and commitments.
To do this pupils should be able to: • Describe • Identify • Explain • Interpret • Analyse • Use specialist vocabulary	To do this pupils should be able to: • Reflect • Express • Empathise • Apply • Interpret • Evaluate

These aims will be met if we:

Deliver quality first teaching with opportunity for CPD.
Encouraging the delivery of RE through and range of activities
Allow children to develop and pose questions that need answering.
Enable children to develop their ideas, knowledge and understanding
Encourage children to work both independently and with others.
Focus reasoning and thinking through open ended questioning.
Provide a range of stimulating experiences to engage and inspire.
Monitoring of the quality of teaching through work scrutiny, planning, acquisition of skills and pupil voice.
Collect and analyse data.

Local context

Saltburn Primary has established links with the local Church of England Church. The children walk to Emmanuel Church for celebrations and visits aimed at supporting the Curriculum. The ‘Open the Book’ team from Emmanuel Church visit fortnightly to perform Bible stories to the children in Year 1-3, they also visit regularly when invited, to support with the teaching of Religious Education. During specific times, visitors from some of the World Religions come to share their beliefs with the children.

How will we enrich cultural capital?

We recognise that, while all children equally deserve the very best start in life, not all children receive the same opportunities as their peers around the country. Levels of disadvantage fluctuate from one school or class to another, and these differences can affect a child’s life chances in so many ways. We believe that it is our duty to enrich the lives of all children wherever possible to diminish this difference.

In the study of Religious Education, our local area provides countless opportunities for children to experience and learn about religion and world views and to learn from religion and world views.

School trips to local places of worship, or relevant venues to enhance classroom learning
Establishing community links by taking part in religious celebrations such as Harvest, Christmas and Easter at a local church
Virtual learning to bring sites of religious importance and/or places of worship into the classroom
Visitors from a variety of faiths from local places of worship and places of worship in other local towns and cities to share experiences and beliefs
Borrowing resources from local archives and depositories to enrich the studying of education through first-hand experience
Take part in national events such as ‘Interfaith week’ – dates vary each year

Progression from EYFS

The table below outlines the most relevant statements taken from the Early Learning Goals in the EYFS statutory framework and the Development Matters age ranges for Three and Four-Year-Olds and Reception. RE in Years 1-6 builds upon this learning through the units covered in the Agreed Syllabus.

Three and Four-Year-Olds	Personal, Social and Emotional Development	Develop their sense of responsibility and membership of a community.
	Understanding the World	Continue to develop positive attitudes about the differences between people.
Reception	Personal, Social and Emotional Development	See themselves as a valuable individual. Think about the perspectives of others.
	Understanding the World	Talk about members of their immediate family and community. Name and describe people who are familiar to them.Understand that some places are special to members of their community. Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
ELG	Personal, Social and Emotional Development	Building Relationships	Show sensitivity to their own and others’ needs.
	Understanding the World	Past and Present	Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society. Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
	Personal, Social and Emotional Development	People and Communities	Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.

Y1-6 Religious Education

The teaching content of Religious Education is not covered by a National Curriculum. The law requires every school to teach RE, and have collective worship of a largely Christian nature. Progress in RE is dependent upon the development of general educational skills and processes. The following skills are central to RE and should be reflected in the planning.

Y1-6 Long term plan of the RE units

	Autumn		Spring		Summer
Year 1	Our Wonderful World	Why do Christians give gifts at Christmas?	Special Books	What did Jesus teach us?	What do Hindus celebrate?	What do Muslims celebrate?
Year 2	Leaders and Teachers	Christmas Celebrations	Who was Buddha?	Why is the Torah special?	Christian Rites of Passage	What do Sikhs believe?
Year 3	Signs and Symbols	Divali	What do we know about Jesus?	Jewish Celebrations	What is the Bible?	Islamic Rites of Passage
Year 4	Sikh Rites of Passage	Christmas Journeys	Hindus Home and Mandir	Why is Easter important?	Buddhist Festivals	Identity and Belonging
Year 5	Where did the Christian Bible come from?	Why is Muhammad important to Muslims?	Jewish Worship and Community	Buddhist Worship and Beliefs	Stories of Christianity	Belief in our Community
Year 6	Stories of Hinduism	What is a church?	What is the Qur’an?	Expressing faith through the Arts	Sikh Worship and Community	What happens when we die?

Coverage of World Religions for Year 1 to 6, including units that cover a variety of world religions focused around a topic

Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6
ChristianityHinduismIslamMixed religious units	ChristianityBuddhismJudaismSikhismMixed Religious units	Hinduism ChristianityJudaismIslamMixed Religious units	SikhismChristianityHinduismBuddhismMixed Religious units	ChristianityIslamJudaismBuddhismMixed Religious units	HinduismChristianityIslamSikhismMixed Religious units

Assessment

Teachers assess children’s knowledge, understanding and skills in RE, by making observations during lessons against the learning objectives. Feedback is given individually and through whole class discussion. Children are encouraged to review and evaluate their own work thinking about successes, improvements and their own next steps. Termly judgements are made based on teacher observations and review of work produced.