Rode Heath Primary SchoolReligion & Worldviews
Religion and Worldviews Curriculum
At Rode Heath Primary School, our Religion and worldviews curriculum aims to develop deep thinkers who are open-minded about religion and worldviews. We aim to ensure our religion and worldviews curriculum is relevant to pupils, reflecting and preparing them for life in modern Britian.
Intent
Through our scheme of work, our children will secure a deep understanding of concepts in order to be able to make connections, ask and respond to challenging questions, learn to respect and appreciate worldviews that are different to their own and consider their personal preconceptions, response & views. This links strongly to our Hearts & Minds curriculum which sits at the centre of our school and runs through everything we do. Both curriculums ensure that children develop an inner discipline and encourage them to not just 'follow the crowd' but to educate themselves, make up their own minds and accept responsibility for their words and actions.
Children will build their conceptual knowledge through studying religions and worldviews locally, nationally and globally in our progressive curriculum, enabling them to make links and connections between worldviews, develop disciplinary skills and build on their understanding of their positionality in relation to their learning. By revisiting key ‘big questions’ and building on prior knowledge, pupils will learn about how religion and worldviews are lived experiences across the world, consider the impact of worldviews on society and have opportunities to consider their personal worldviews. Our curriculum also seeks to promote positive attitudes and personal qualities such as enthusiasm, reflection, respect and tolerance but also our school values of fairness, curiosity, resilience and teamwork. All of which are vital for effective learning. We believe our curriculum provides opportunities to celebrate and show an awareness of differences within our school and the wider world; it is a subject that celebrates diversity and challenges stereotypes.
Our Religion and worldviews curriculum enables our pupils to meet the government guidance, which states that RE must reflect that ‘the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. Our curriculum has been designed to fulfil the aims of ‘A Curriculum framework for Religious Education in England’.
Implementation
Reflecting the findings of the Ofsted Research review series: religious education (May 2021), our scheme has the following three strands running through it:
- Substantive knowledge (conceptual and worldviews related).
- Disciplinary knowledge
- Personal knowledge
These strands are interwoven across all units to create lessons that build children’s conceptual knowledge and understanding of religion and worldviews (substantive knowledge) and use a range of disciplinary lenses. Children will also be equipped to explore and express their preconceptions, personal worldviews and positionality (personal knowledge) through varied and engaging learning experiences.
We follow the Kapow Primary Religion and worldviews scheme which follows a spiral curriculum model, where units and lessons are carefully sequenced so that previous conceptual knowledge is returned to and built upon. Children progress by developing and deepening their knowledge and understanding of substantive and disciplinary concepts by experiencing them in a range of contexts. This can be seen in the Religion and Worldviews: Progression of Knowledge and Skills.
Children begin to develop their awareness of religion and worldviews in Key Stage 1, focusing on conceptual knowledge through the study of a limited range of religions and worldviews represented in the UK, including Christianity. This will support children in building knowledge they can refer to throughout their learning in Key Stage 2 while encountering a greater range of religions and worldviews and considering further the diverse nature of religious and non-religious lived experience.
Each unit includes overarching ‘big questions’ which will be revisited throughout key stage 1, lower key stage 2 and upper key stage 2, allowing children to apply the breadth and depth of their learning across various concepts.
These ‘big questions’ are:
Why are we here?
Why do worldviews change?
What is religion?
How can worldviews be expressed?
How do worldviews affect our daily lives?
How can we live together in harmony if we have different worldviews?
A more specific, focused enquiry question frames the learning across each unit. Both the ‘big questions’ and the focused enquiry question will allow children to explore the content they are studying, make comparisons and links within and across religions and worldviews, and explore personal views.
Lessons are designed to be varied, engaging and hands-on, allowing children to learn and record their thoughts, answers and ideas in various ways. In each lesson, children will participate in activities involving disciplinary and substantive concepts, developing their knowledge and understanding of diverse religions and worldviews.
Knowledge organisers support pupils in developing conceptual knowledge and schemata by summarizing the key concepts covered in a unit and linking these to examples covered. Lessons can be adapted to stretch pupil’s learning and to ensure that all pupils can access the lesson content.
Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to deliver a highly-effective and robust Religions and Worldviews curriculum. Each unit of lessons will focus on the key subject knowledge needed to deliver the curriculum, making links with prior learning and identifying possible misconceptions. Throughout the units, children will learn skills to have respectful discussions and respond sensitively to one another. Our curriculum emphasizes the importance of diverse representations within and across religions and worldviews, focusing on real people’s lived experiences of their beliefs.
Impact
The impact of our scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each unit has a unit quiz and a knowledge catcher, which can be used at the end of the unit to provide a summative assessment.
After the implementation of our Religion and worldviews curriculum, pupils will be equipped with a range of disciplinary skills and knowledge to enable them to succeed in their secondary education. They will be prepared for life in modern Britain, being able to interact with others from different religious and non-religious viewpoints in a respectful, knowledgeable and open-minded way. They will be enquiring learners who ask questions and make connections. They will be confident to explore their personal worldview and have the skills to appreciate, evaluate and respond to religious, philosophical and ethical questions.
The expected impact of following our Religion and worldviews scheme of work is that the children will:
- Know and understand religious concepts relating to beliefs, practices, community and belonging, and wisdom and guidance.
- Develop an understanding of the influence of organised and personal worldviews on individuals, communities, countries and globally.
- Understand some of the ways religions and worldviews are studied (disciplinary knowledge).
- Develop understanding of their relationship with the content studied, being able to talk about their assumptions and preconceptions (personal knowledge).
- Build secure vocabulary which allows them to talk confidently and fluently about their learning.
- Answer questions about worldviews through an enquiry-based approach including investigating, interpreting, evaluating, applying & expressing.
- Talk about the similarities and differences between their own and others beliefs with respect and open mindedness.
- Understand the lived experiences of religious and non-religious worldviews to be diverse within and between people and communities.
- Develop an understanding of the ways in which personal and organised worldviews may develop and change across time and place.
The curriculum for RE aims to ensure that all pupils:
A. Know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews, so that they can:
- describe, explain, evaluate and analyse beliefs and practices, recognising the diversity, which exists within and between communities and amongst individuals;
- identify, investigate and respond to questions posed, and responses offered by some of the sources of wisdom found in religions and worldviews;
- appreciate and appraise the nature, significance and impact of different ways of life and ways of expressing meaning.
B. Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews, so that they can:
- explain reasonably their ideas about how beliefs, practices and forms of expression influence individuals and communities;
- express with increasing discernment their personal reflections and critical responses to questions and teachings about identity, diversity, meaning and value, including ethical issues;
- appreciate and appraise varied dimensions of religion or a worldview.
C. Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews, so that they can:
- Find out about and investigate key concepts and questions of belonging, meaning, purpose and truth, responding creatively;
- enquire into what enables different individuals and communities to live together respectfully for the wellbeing of all;
- articulate beliefs, values and commitments clearly in order to explain why they may be important in their own and other people’s lives.