RE

RE Curriculum

At Quest Primary School we want our children to be able to make sense of religion and worldviews around them and begin to understand the complex world in which they live as part of a modern society. RE is taught as a sequence of six lessons in a half term, with children having the opportunity to encounter each of the six main world religions during their time at Quest Primary, as well as a range of other religious and non-religious worldviews. By the time they leave Quest Primary for secondary school, our children have a strong knowledge and understanding of religious leaders, stories, beliefs, practices and places of worship, and are able to make connections and comparisons between them. Learning in RE is discrete but is connected authentically to learning in other subject areas, such as children adding to their Geography schema about the River Ganges, by learning about Hindu beliefs to prayer and worship in RE and the significance of the river to them. Our Knowledge Organisers support the teaching of lesson sequences in the classroom, containing key information for children to remember.

We have designed and written a bespoke RE curriculum for Quest Primary School, which is based on the approach of the Norfolk SACRE scheme of work. Children study two religions or worldviews concurrently within the unit, meaning they are able to compare and contrast, noting similarities and differences. In this curriculum, RE is rooted in three key disciplines or ‘lenses’. These are theology (thinking through believing), philosophy (thinking through thinking) and the human/social sciences (thinking through living). Children from Year 1 to Year 6 study one unit per year that is based upon each of these three disciplines, thereby developing their knowledge and understanding of each as they progress from Key Stage one to Key Stage two. Children in the EYFS develop their knowledge and understanding of the world through learning about the concepts of celebrations, special books and special places, preparing them for KS1 study.

Lesson sequences follow the ‘Engage – Enquire – Explore – Evaluate – Express’ model and every lesson starts with an overarching enquiry question that the children will seek to answer during the lesson/sequence of learning. Ready-to-Progress assessments are used in the penultimate lesson in each sequence, providing opportunities to evaluate how well learning has been remembered and mastered by pupils, with a further opportunity to demonstrate and summarise key learning in the final ‘express’ lesson. Teacher’s systematically check for understanding throughout all lessons through targeted questioning.

Our curriculum ensures progression through priority content knowledge being identified within the following strands: believing; belonging; celebrations; stories and books; symbols and artefacts; and prayer and worship. We believe a deep understanding of these will further enhance children’s understanding and enjoyment of RE. Where these concepts arise in a teaching unit, children are encouraged to retrieve knowledge they have previously learned, to gradually build their understanding and be able to apply in different contexts, reason and make connections, strengthening their long-term memory.