Purpose of Study:

Religion and beliefs inform our values and are reflected in what we say and how we behave. RE is an important subject in itself, developing an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs, which form part of contemporary society. Religious education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. It can develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, of other principal religions, other religious traditions and worldviews that offer answers to questions such as these. RE also contributes to pupils’ personal development and well-being and to community cohesion by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society. RE can also make important contributions to other parts of the school curriculum such as citizenship, personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE education), the humanities, education for sustainable development and others. It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development, deepening the understanding of the significance of religion in the lives of others – individually, communally and cross-culturally.

Aims:

The non-statutory guidance for RE from the National Curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

Learn about the school community – RE provides a positive context within which the diversity of cultures, beliefs and values can be celebrated and explored:

• The community within which the school is located – RE provides opportunities to investigate patterns of diversity of religion and belief and forge links with different groups in the local area;
• The UK community – a major focus of RE is the study of diversity of religion and belief in the UK and how this influences national life;
• The global community – RE involves the study of matters of global significance recognising the diversity of religion and belief and its impact on world issues. RE subject matter gives particular opportunities to promote an ethos of respect for others, challenge stereotypes and build understanding of other cultures and beliefs. This contributes to promoting a positive and inclusive school ethos that champions democratic values and human rights.

Aims: The aims of the Hampshire RE syllabus: Living Difference IV

Living Difference IV is an approach to enquiry in religious education. 

Living Difference IV takes as its starting point an exploration, with children and young people, of what it means to exist in and with the world. The enquiry process, therefore, begins as the teacher brings each child or young person to attend to aspects of their own experience, before attending and responding to ways in which aspects of human existence have been conceptualised and lived out by other people in particular situations.

As the teacher brings the child to question and enquire further, they become able to discern what may be valuable in these matters.

The Living Difference IV approach is a process of enquiry into concepts, where a concept is understood as a name for, or way of referring to, an idea that exists or has the possibility of existing in a particular kind of way under particular conditions: for example compassion, hope, community or justice. 

As people struggle to express their experience of their own existence in the world, concepts can come to gain particular significance. 

Some are shared between religions, such as worship or prayer. Others are also translatable between languages, such as between English and Arabic in terms of God and Allah; however they may also have significantly nuanced meanings distinctive to one tradition. In addition to this, some concepts are used uniquely in one particular tradition, for example the Church and sangha, and are, therefore, characteristic of one particular tradition and/or context in which they came about and have quite distinctive meanings in one tradition.

Intent:

At Grange Junior School RE is taught as a subject in its own right as well as encompassing elements of SMSC, Rights and Responsibilities education and PSHE. The school uses the Hampshire syllabus: Living Difference IV which builds knowledge and understanding through various concepts. These concepts fall into three categories: concepts common to all people (for example, remembering, specialness, celebration, rights, compassion, justice); concepts shared by many religions (or example, God, worship, symbolism, the sacred, discipleship, stewardship, martyrdom); and concepts distinctive to particular religions (for example, dukkha, Trinity, tawheed, redemption, Khalsa, moksha, Tora),. All concepts begin from the experiences of the child, especially disadvantaged pupils, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or well-being (through carefully planned support and scaffolding).

Through RE, children are taught to recognise their own values and beliefs and to develop greater understanding and tolerance of the values and beliefs of others. We follow an enquiry-based approach leading from the child and their own experiences with the intention of developing more rounded young people able to be an active and positive part of their communities including school, local, national and global. This learning is carefully planned, sequenced and built upon in progressive years across the school and is scaffolded where necessary to be accessible and useful to all learners.

Implementation:

The RE long-term plan is prepared and overseen by the RE manager and provides a clear progression in the learning of a variety of concepts and contextualizing these in the light of three main religions: Christianity (all years), Judaism (Years 3 and 4) and Islam (Years 5 and 6). It follows a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum so that pupils build knowledge and skills sequentially and cumulatively across the key stage meeting the aims of the National Curriculum.

The Living Difference IV approach to enquiry in religious education entails teachers bringing children and young people first to attend to their own experience of particular concepts, before enquiring into related religious as well as non-religious ways of living, represented in Great Britain and beyond. It is taught explicitly that we should respect the beliefs and views of others and that we should be supportive and nurturing to encourage the views of all to be shared. Our classrooms are safe spaces for children to share their opinions without judgement and there is an expectation of resilience in the approaches taken for enquiring minds.

This approach to enquiry has five key steps where the teacher brings the child:

• At the Communicate and Apply steps to attend to their own and others’ experience; 
• At the Enquire and Contextualise steps to engage intellectually and rise to the challenges that arise;
• At the Evaluate step to discern value for others and themselves in a way dependent on the context of the enquiry.

Children are encouraged to enquire about and evaluate their own values and beliefs and to see these in the context of those of others. They are encouraged to challenge their own thinking and the thinking of others and to be able to describe and explain their own thinking as well as that of others in the community.

Impact:

The RE subject manager carries out half-termly monitoring using the school’s assessment model and by book scrutiny and/or pupil conferencing. This information is then used to evaluate the effectiveness of planning, teaching and learning for that half term and ensures that the concepts have been delivered in an enquiring way and that those disadvantaged children or those with SEND are being supported appropriately. Pupils are assessed against Hampshire assessment points (using the end of Key Stage/Year group statements) and are given feedback against the learning objectives at each stage of the enquiry.

This evaluation provides opportunities to update and improve planning and delivery and to ensure that the concepts are relevant to the children from each year group. This monitoring also ensures that the skills of the cycle are built upon and that children cumulatively gain adequate knowledge and skills. RE is reported on in end of year reports in accordance with National Curriculum expectations.