RE
RE at Prince Rock
Intent
Across the LAT, we believe that Religious Education (RE) provokes challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, about faith, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. It develops children’s knowledge and understanding of the principle world religions and living faiths, as well as non-religious perspectives such as humanism.
RE provides pupils with opportunities to ask fundamental questions about life and death and the values and commitments within different faiths. It gives children the opportunity for personal reflection, preparing them for the responsibilities and experiences of later life. Our objective is to develop a clear knowledge and understanding of a wide range of religious concepts and ideas and for all children to use these to make links to the 21st century world that they live in today.
In our RE lessons we aim to provide a safe space for children to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences, and also one in which children are entitled to question, evaluate and express themselves through debate and discussion, where they can "disagree agreeably".
We value RE for its contribution to the development of children’s own beliefs, values, and sense of identity. It does not promote a religion, or particular set of beliefs, but engenders respect for the beliefs and values of others. RE is statutory for all pupils and the LAT follows the Plymouth Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (2019). At Prince Rock we aim to ensure our curriculum reflects the religious context of our local area by providing additional learning experiences through whole-school RE days, cultural capital assemblies and marking religious festivals.
Implementation
EYFS
During the foundation stage, children begin to explore the world of religion in terms of special people, books, times, places and objects, visiting places of worship and through celebration. Children listen to and talk about stories. They are introduced to specialist words and use their senses in exploring religious beliefs, practices and forms of expression. They reflect upon their own feelings and experiences. They use their imagination and curiosity to develop their appreciation and wonder of the world in which they live.
Key Stage One
At Key Stage One children learn about different beliefs about God and the world around them. They encounter and respond to a range of stories, artefacts and other religious materials. They learn to recognise that beliefs are expressed in a variety of ways, and begin to use specialist vocabulary. They begin to understand the importance and value of religion for believers, especially other children and their families.
Children ask relevant questions and develop a sense of wonder about the world, using their imaginations. They talk about what is important to themselves and others, valuing themselves, reflecting on their own feelings and experiences and developing a sense of belonging. At key stage 1 children should study Christianity, Judaism and Islam in particular, with examples drawn from other religions and consider non-religious worldviews, as appropriate.
Key Stage Two
At key stage 2 children investigate and consider the impact of religion and belief locally, nationally and globally. They make connections between different aspects of religion and belief and consider different forms of religious expression. They consider the beliefs, teachings, practices and ways of life central to religion. They learn about sacred texts and other sources of wisdom and consider their meanings. They begin to recognise diversity in religion, learning about similarities and differences both within and between religions and the importance of dialogue between them. They extend the range and use of specialist vocabulary. They recognise the challenges involved in distinguishing between ideas of right and wrong, and valuing what is good and true. They communicate their ideas clearly, recognising other people’s viewpoints. They consider their own beliefs and values and those of others in the light of their learning in religious education.
At Key stage 2 children study, in a more systematic way, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam and other non-religious worldviews such as Humanism. But references, illustrations and examples can also be drawn from Buddhism and Sikhism, as appropriate.
Our objective is to develop a clear knowledge and understanding of key religious concepts and ideas and for all children at Prince Rock to use these to make links to the 21st century world that they live in today. High quality teaching ensures this knowledge is embedded throughout the school. At the same time, a whole school focus on improving oracy skills and frequent vocabulary development is very important in the teaching of Religious Education. This approach provides the opportunity for language development and ensures that disadvantaged groups, as well as SEND and EAL children, can access the Religious Education curriculum at Prince Rock.
Through their learning in RE, children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in the community and the wider world. Also, they grow to have a sense of self, identity and belonging, and show respect, tolerance and understanding of other people's cultures and ways of life. We develop "ways of knowing" through exploring methods and tools, and providing opportunities to look at religions through different lenses, such as philosophy, theology and sociology. We also consider and value the place of "personal knowledge".
We believe it is important to acknowledge and teach about diversity within religion as well as diversity of religion. We do this by using the language of most/many/some/few and often/sometimes/rarely.
Impact
RE lessons are enjoyed by the children at our school and they are able to communicate the knowledge they have learnt. Our RE curriculum provides the children with the knowledge and skills that will support them in Key Stage Three. We are proud of the high profile Religious Education has in our school and the range of enrichment opportunities provided that aim to enhance their knowledge and understanding and promote curiosity and enjoyment.
Children record their learning in their RE books which builds throughout their time in school demonstrating the progress they make. Progression in RE is supported through the use of techniques like retrieval quizzes and hinge questions. These techniques, combined with responsive teaching which adapts learning in light of children’s knowledge, understanding and misconceptions, ensure that the children understand and remember key knowledge. Assessment takes place through listening to children’s responses and contributions to discussions and evaluating their written work. Reviews of the key unit questions take place each term. The range of assessments that take place are used to inform any interventions and responses needed in the following lessons. An age-related assessment will be given to parents / carers on reports.
RE Matrix
Enrichment 2023-2024
Visits
On Thursday 14th March, Year 3 visited the synagogue in Plymouth as part of their learning about Judaism.
Photos coming very soon!
Year Two have been learning about how Muslims live so visited the Piety Islamic Centre to find out more and to also have the opportunity to ask lots of questions.
Whole School RE Day
This year we all joined together for our annual Whole School RE Day on Tuesday 6th February. This year the theme was "Paintings, Pictures and Photographs", with images being selected from a variety of religions, including Christianity, Islam, Paganism and Sikhism. Our Minister for RE carried out some research and reported back that the children like to take part in a range of activities on RE Day, so staff planned activities that included drama, singing and craft. We finished the day with a "Pair and Share" where the children used their oracy skills to let others know what they had learnt.
MAF Advent Adventure
We were very excited to take part in the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) Advent Adventure again this year and find out more about the important work this charity does. We re-visited some countries and also visited some new ones. All this was alongside learning more about advent and the story of Jesus' birth.
Celebrations
Our Harvest Festivals were held in school. The School Council voted and decided to support Project 35 (Plymouth Argyle) and the East End Community Resource Centre. We collected a coin donation for Project 35 to help fund their work providing meals for children during the school holidays. We brought in fresh carrots, potatoes and swede for the East End Community Resource Centre which they will use to make meals for people in our local community.
Every class in school took part in an activity about Diwali with each year group building on the learning done in previous years.
In December, Years 4, 5 and 6 led our Carol service which was held in the Plymouth Christian Centre. The rest of the school went along too. While we were there some of us took the opportunity to compare the church with St Jude's Church (where we held our Carol Service last year).
Jerusalem Trust Grant
We were lucky to be successful in our application to receive a grant from the Jerusalem Trust. We have been able to use this to buy a range of resources to support our teaching of RE, including Bibles, nativity sets and photo packs.
Enrichment 2022 - 2023
Visits
In March 2023 Year 3 walked into central Plymouth and visited the synagogue as they have been learning about Judaism in RE.
Both Year 2 and Year 5 visited the Piety Islamic Centre in February 2023. We are lucky as we are able to walk to the centre. The children were able to visit the mosque which is situated inside the centre and listened to a talk.
Whole-school RE Day
February 7th was our whole-school RE day and the theme this year was “Exploring different religions and worldviews”. Pupil voice meetings and those with the Ministers for Religious Education had shown that the children were interested in learning about religions other than the ones in their weekly RE lessons. The children were introduced to different religions through a range of stimuli and then took part in activities linked to what they had found out.
The religions the children found out about included Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, Paganism and Zoroastrianism.
MAF Advent Adventure
This year we took part in the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) Advent Adventure. This involved us going on a tour around the world of some of the countries MAF serves and discovering fascinating facts about them. We also learnt about the important work the charity MAF does.
Celebrations
Our Harvest Festival was held in school. The School Council voted and decided to support Shekinah this year. We collected a range of store cupboard items alongside hygiene products.
All the classes took some time to find out about Diwali, ensuring that each year group built on previous learning.
We went to St Jude’s Church for our Carol Service which was led by Years 1, 2 and 3 this year.
Every class had a session about Eid ul fitr. The children were given the chance to share how they celebrate this festival in their own homes and the local community.
Enrichment 2021-2022
Whole-school RE Day
We held our annual whole-school RE day in the Spring Term. The theme this year was Faith Stories and the children listened to a range of stories. They thought about what the stories teach believers and took part in activities linked to the stories.
| Title of story | Faith story is from |
RB | The Monkey King | Buddhism |
RPH | Muhammad and the cat | Islam |
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1J | The Story of Moses | Judaism |
1SB | The widows offering | Christianity |
2O | The Religion Man and the shopkeeper | Islam |
2U | The Wind and the Moon | Buddhism |
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3AN | Narada and the Hunter | Hinduism |
3P | Daniel and the lions' den | Christianity |
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4B | A Beautiful World | Christianity |
4D | The Story of Aaron | Judaism |
5D | The Crying Camel | Islam |
5M | The God and the Wicked Witch | Hinduism |
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6 | The Unforgiving Servant | Christianity |
6 | The story of the leper, the blind and the bald man | Islam |
Hanukah Webinar
Our Reception Classes joined a special webinar from the Jewish Museum in London in December to find out about the festival of Hanukah.
Celebrations
We held our Harvest Festival in school. The school council chose to ask for donations to Plymouth Foodbank.
Our Carol Service was held in St Jude's church, and this year it was led by Years 4, 5 and 6.
Places of Worship
At Prince Rock we are very lucky to have places of worship that we are able to walk to and visit.
Years 2, 3 and 5 all visited our local mosque in February.
Year 4 visited St Jude's Church in March. While they were there they discussed their RE Unit "Why do Christians call the day Jesus died 'Good Friday'? with the Vicar.
As part of their learning about special places, Year R visited St Bartholomew's Church, in Yealmpton.
