South Hill Primary School
Building Character, Learning Together
Religious Education
Religious Education Vision
To develop knowledge of religion and worldview by answering enquiries through ‘Big Questions’.
To respect similarities and differences between people and their cultures.
To have the confidence to develop their own sense of identity, belonging and worldview.
At South Hill we teach a broad and balanced RE curriculum, which aims to develop skills and knowledge that:
•promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, social and mental development of pupils
•prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life
•promotes British values
•promotes community cohesion (Education Act, 2006)
•protects children from the risk of radicalisation, from whatever source (The Prevent duty – departmental advice for schools and childcare providers”, June 2015)
Our Curriculum
At South Hill, we follow a scheme, ‘Jigsaw RE’. Jigsaw RE is an enquiry-based scheme of work, covering the principal world faiths and humanism in a progressive way from EYFS to Year 6. In the early years, the learning is closely matched to Development Matters to contribute meaningfully to your child’s holistic development. Throughout all the enquiries, the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is carefully considered.
This is a comprehensive programme designed to develop empathy, critical thinking and understanding of diverse worldviews. It encompasses the Worldview approach to RE enabling pupils to form their own decisions about what RE means to them and develop their own personal worldview whilst empathising with what it means to other religious and non-religious belief holders. Appreciating that we all see the world through the lens that has been formed by our experiences, upbringing, culture etc and that this influences our decision-making and our own way of seeing the world is so valuable. It also aims to enable children to grow spiritually by developing their awareness and skills of reflection, their experience of awe and wonder and their appreciation of stillness and silence.
Lessons are carefully mapped out in our ‘Long term plan’ and progress through our golden threads (the 6 principal religions as well as touching on Humanism in appropriate units).
The Big Question
Each enquiry lasts for half a term and begins with a ‘big question’ such as “What is the best way for a Christian/Jew/Muslim etc. to show commitment to God?” The children then start discussing the theme of the enquiry (in this case, commitment) from their own experience. What have they shown commitment to? Brownies? Cubs? Their sporting team? Playing an instrument?
Only when the children fully understand the concept they are considering, do they then move on to investigating what the people following the studied religion or worldview believe about it. They will spend approximately 3 lessons on this, learning in a variety of ways, so they can adapt their responses and come to a measured conclusion. In week 5 they will complete an activity which can assess their learning, by answering their “big” question. The assessment activities are child friendly and can be answered in a variety of ways, as long as the child can justify their view with the knowledge they have gained throughout the enquiry. This demonstrates the level of critical thinking that the children can apply – a valuable skill for them throughout the school curriculum.
The final week in every enquiry gives the children time to reflect on what they have learnt about the concept and apply to it their own lives, thus allowing them to form their own beliefs and identity. For example, learning that Sikhs share their food with all who attend has taught me ……… about sharing that I would like to take forward with me. These lessons are often very creative, and children have opportunities to make items to express themselves in ways other than just writing.
Owl Crew
Each year group has a special owl from the Owl Crew. They represent wisdom and promote questioning and exploration. The owl will provide answers and challenge with further questions.
By the end of Year 6, we want our pupils to:
· Develop knowledge of world religions by asking ‘big questions.’
· Respect the similarities and differences between people and their cultures.
· Have the confidence to develop their own sense of identity and belonging.
Trips, hooks and theme days
Our RE curriculum is enriched by a number of school trips, theme days and assemblies and these provide excellent opportunities to bring our learning to life. Examples are:
· EYFS: Christmas visit to the local church to hang decorations.
· Year 1: Celebration of Hannukah with parent visitors to explain their living and believing life.
· Year 3: Theme day exploring Sikhism concluding with a shared Langar
· Year 5: Visit to Gadebridge Park with the vicar linking the church to local history.
· Whole school assemblies with Father Mike exploring Easter and Christmas
International Day (please see the ‘International Day’ section of our website)
Each year at South Hill School, we celebrate 'International Day'. Each class chooses a country from around the world, which is also representative of our South Hill communities. For that day, year groups investigate and learn about their chosen country. They can wear clothes from their celebrated country or colours of the flag. They experience the food, music, dance and interests of the people in that country. Pupils also explore the culture, traditions and beliefs of their chosen country.
‘I am Muslim and it means I go to London on Saturdays and Sundays to learn Arabic’ Adiyan.
‘I am Hindu and this means we celebrate Diwali which is coming soon. When you are Hindu you meet up with other Hindus and go to temple and wear special clothes’. Aru
I do wonder how we were created so I like RE cos it tells us about that’ Aiden
‘Jesus plays a very important role in Christianity cos he taught people about God and I know about God and I’m a Christian’. Mason
‘My religion is Islam. We celebrate Eid and Ramadan.’ Rahul