RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (RE) AT FAIRLIGHT

Religious Education

At Fairlight we use the Brighton and Hove Council agreed syllabus. We have taken the themes from B&H curriculum guidance and used the units to fit in with our wider school curriculum.

Intent:

The sequence of learning is underpinned by the purposeful themes which drive the RE curriculum in each year group. Children have lots of opportunities to immerse themselves in RE and to build their understanding about the subject through first hand experiences and to reflect on their own values and beliefs to achieve their full potential.

The RE curriculum at Fairlight is crafted with skilled teachers and whole school planning to embed children’s natural curiosity, understanding, knowledge and respect towards variety of religions in our community, around the world and also Christianity.

The key theme drivers underpinning Religious Education at Fairlight are:

Nursery: Understanding the World

Reception: Understanding the World

KS1 and KS2:

·         Beliefs, teaching and sources

·         Practices and Ways of life

·         Expressing meaning

·         Identity, diversity and belonging

·         Meaning, purpose and truth

·         Values and commitments

These themes are closely linked to the school’s core values of the Six Learning Superheroes, which are a driving force to ignite children’s curiosity, creativity, perseverance, independence, kindness and risk taking. These superhero values are reflected in our RE planning and assessment where children have an opportunity to show these skills, practised from the early stage of their development until they leave school. Staff have an ambition to provide metacognition processes to give systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religious worldviews, enabling children to develop their ideas, values and identities.

We offer a broad curriculum that encourages respect, tolerance and understanding of different faiths.

At Fairlight we aim to deliver a Religious Education curriculum that is accessible, motivational and memorable to all so that it maximises the outcomes for every child. We thrive on providing knowledge about variety of faiths and religious themes which result in children’s ability to become reflective, independent and responsible members of society who can explore big questions about life and become respectful individuals towards own and others religious views and beliefs.

Implementation

Children start exploring Religious Education in the Early Years through learning about celebrations and festivals. Some religious themes are linked to our PSHE curriculum, understanding the world, expressive arts and design, literacy and maths.

The knowledge which children gain in the Early Years, supplements the Year 1 curriculum planning, where children have an opportunity to further explore the meaning of belonging and investigate for instance, “Why Jesus is a special person for Christians.”

The curriculum at Fairlight is delivered through implementation of children’s previous knowledge in the next year group. Thus teachers refer to their assessments, subject meetings and planning. In each year group children build their understanding and apply that knowledge as skills.

Long term and medium term plans make it clear for teachers what to teach. Teachers have an ambition to plan how they teach based on each individual class. At Fairlight teachers use RE curriculum mapping to insure that every religion is being covered, as it is suggested in B & H curriculum guidance document, “Breadth of Study” section.

Children make good links to learning when experiences of RE curriculum are made meaningful. For instance, every year group has an ability to visit places of worship and talk to religious leaders. The school holds special religious and charitable events and assemblies to promote the key themes of religious education at Fairlight. Teachers aim high to activate children's prior learning either by giving experiences listed above or providing tangible artefacts, art and other resources which support the delivery of an effective RE curriculum across the school.

RE subject leaders will have a clear understanding what children are learning about in Early Years, KS1 and KS2 by reviewing the effectiveness of teaching through pupil voice. Also children’s work is reviewed for teachers to have a clear understanding about their year group progression. These assessment and conferencing opportunities help teachers to gain insight into children’s working memory and how to embed the learning in their long-term memory, which are key areas for our curriculum development.

Impact

Our RE curriculum and delivery at Fairlight helps children gain a love for learning and respect for different religions. Children show increasing knowledge about diverse communities and ways of life in each key stage. An effective programme of study helps children to gain skills necessary to hold balanced conversationa about religions and worldviews. Teachers aim high to give educational opportunities which bring a positive outlook towards communities across the city and beyond. Overall, children are able to link their learning at school to Christian values.