If you require any additional information regarding the curriculum other than that stated below, please contact the school office.

RE POLICY RE CURRICULUM 

At Great Paxton CE Primary School we follow the SACRE Cambridgeshire Locally Agreed Syllabus 2023-2028. The link for this syllabus can be found here:

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/agreed-syllabus-2023-28.pdf

We use the Emmanuel Project resource to teach Christianity and World Faiths and Views to meet the statutory requirements of the Locally Agreed Syllabus 2023- 2028 

The right to withdraw from RE

In England, parents and carers have the right to withdraw their children from RE. This right of withdrawal exists for all pupils in all types of school, including schools with and without a religious designation. Parents and carers also have the right to withdraw their child from part of RE and can do so without giving any explanation.

If you wish to withdraw your child from RE, or parts of RE, please contact the headteacher.

Religious Education at Great Paxton CE Primary School:

Intent

What do we teach in Religious Education and why?

Religious Education at Great Paxton C of E Primary aims to develop children’s understanding about the worlds’ religions and cultures. Our children will learn about the variety of religions in the world we live in to increase their awareness and understanding of different cultures, faiths and world views.

Through using The Emmanuel Project scheme of work, we aim to provide continuity and progression in a consistent whole school approach to RE. We aim to build each child’s ‘religious literacy’ helping them understand the nature of religion and belief in the world in which we live.

As a Church of England School, teaching and learning will use an approach that engages with biblical text and theological ideas.

Our Aims for Children:

• To know about and understand Christianity as a global living faith through exploration of core beliefs
• To gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions studied.
• To engage with challenging questions of meaning and purpose.
• To recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different cultures and places.
• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways living, believing and thinking.

Implementation

How do we teach Religious Education?

At Great Paxton C of E Primary school, our religious education curriculum follows The Emmanuel Project scheme of work. This ensures a consistent whole school approach to RE providing our children continuity and progression within their RE learning from Reception to Year 6. This scheme of work provides children with a wide range of inspiring opportunities following a three step learning process of Engage, Enquire and Evaluate.

This approach teaches that any key belief or concept can be understood as long as it is ‘cracked open’ in a way a child understands.

The engage section in every unit enables this to happen with activities, before the religious content is introduced. Focussing on a concept ensures each unit is theologically grounded and focused on belief and practice. The Emmanuel Project Scheme of work uses big questions as central to its approach. These questions are then explored in different ways. This is not ‘enquiry’ in the traditional sense of pupils setting and exploring their own learning. However, pupils are encouraged to ask their own questions throughout. This teaching and learning approach enables learners to look first at a religious text before moving on to looking at the impact of this concept in the religious community and on the life of the individual. 

Our Scheme of Work has clear outcomes for each phase of primary education which build on each other year on year so children know more and can do more.

The Scheme supports teachers’ subject knowledge and helps them navigate and challenge cultural and religious stereotypes, prejudice and extremism.

Impact

What do we see as a result in Religious Education?

We know that we have been successful in delivering upon our curriculum intent in RE, when children are able to articulate their understanding of the beliefs and practices of others and can apply their knowledge of these by considering these in their day to day interactions with others.

We monitor our RE curriculum both in terms of both knowledge and skills based learning outcomes and through the development of the whole child. Classroom practitioners monitor the children’s Religious Education skills and knowledge through both formative and summative assessment using the 2018 Cambridgeshire agreed syllabus assessment statements for both AT1 and AT2 strands. The children have the opportunity to present their learning in a variety of ways.

Whilst spirituality cannot and should not be measured, practitioners use their understanding of spiritual development to alter plans to allow for progressively deeper spiritual development. This can be seen within the deep conversations classes have and the questions which children raise to be discussed.