Intent, implementation & impact

RE  

Intent, Implementation & Impact 

Intent 

The Church of England state that: 

 “Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness.” 

 As a Church of England school, Arnside National School views RE as a core subject and we are very proud that it helps our children to flourish in ways that they didn’t realise were possible. 

 R.E. lessons provide children with the tools to explore Christianity and World Faiths. It enhances their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  They learn to interpret, analyse, evaluate and critically respond to questions. Pupils learn to express their insights and to agree or disagree respectfully.  

Our RE curriculum has been carefully planned to provide sequential steps, allowing children to constantly revisit and revise prior learning. The curriculum allows for learning through practical elements such as visits, exploring artefacts and using various mediums such as art and drama.  

 

Implementation 

R.E. is taught in a weekly lesson, by each class teacher. We use the Blackburn Diocesan Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education as the basis for our curriculum, which promotes the study of the 5 principal religions represented in Britain: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. We supplement this with Understanding Christianity, which is a resource that helps children gain a deeper understanding of Christianity and the Bible.  

 

From the syllabus it is required that:  

 

• In the Early Years Foundation Stage learners will follow the Chatterbox Units which encourage conversation through a box of varied and multi-faith artefacts  

 

• In KS1 and KS2 - The units are taught are in essence 70% based on Christianity and 30% about World Faiths. 

 

Individual Work is recorded in R.E. books and each class has a scrap book where comments from discussions, thoughts and group work is evidenced. 

 

Religious Education taught at Arnside National School offers children the opportunity to explore their own and other people’s experiences. Our curriculum has the teachings of Christianity at its core, enabling students to acquire a deep and through knowledge of the Christian faith through exploration of Jesus Christ and his teachings. Although the main teachings reflect the Christian traditions of this country, we also aim to provide a wide range of opportunities for students to have a sympathetic understanding of the range of faiths studied. In an increasingly multi-cultural society, we believe we have a duty to provide children with knowledge to make informed decisions and develop respect and tolerance for those who follow other faiths.  

As such Religious Education at Arnside National School is central to good local, national and global citizenship. It makes a significant contribution to the active promotion of mutual respect and tolerance of others’ faiths and beliefs, a fundamental British value. It prepares pupils for life in modern Britain. 

We work closely with Carlisle Diocese to constantly improve the quality of teaching and learning of RE.  

Regular opportunities to discover religions other than Christianity are planned throughout the year, with visitors, trips to places of Worship and the celebration of religious festivals.  These activities alongside weekly R.E. lessons, will help to celebrate the diversity of the wider community, including their beliefs, traditions, culture, language and history. 

 

Impact 

At Arnside National School, we seek to ensure that all pupils in our school are educated to develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to enable them to better understand themselves and others and to cope with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of living in a rapidly changing, multicultural world.  

At the start of each new topic, a list of expectations and outcomes are shared with the children. This helps the children understand what knowledge they need to gain from this topic. These expectations and outcomes are then used to assess the children and at the end of the year these are used with the Blackburn Diocese ladder of expectation to form a judgement of whether expected progress has been made. 

Children complete learning maps with the “Sticky knowledge” that they have gained from each topic. These follow them through school to allow for them to refer back when topics are revisited. 

Our RE curriculum has been carefully and purposely planned to enable the children to leave Arnside School equipped with the diversity dexterity they will need to excel in all aspects of life.