INTENT

Here, at Larwood School, the aim of Religious Education is to help children to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other principal religions represented in Great Britain and around the world. To appreciate the way that religious beliefs shape lives and behaviours and develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues. The exposure to a wide range of religions and the progression of learning means that children develop an understanding and awareness of beliefs, values and traditions of other individuals, societies, communities, and cultures outside of their own. At Larwood School, Religious Education is referred to as Knowledge of the World, and it plays an important role, along with all other curriculum areas, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of our children. KOTW offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way.

IMPLEMENTATION

We follow the Chris Quigley Essentials Breadth of Study. However, at Larwood School, we implement our Religious Education learning through an enquiry-based approach. Religious Education themes and topics are covered via Creative Curriculum block lessons once every half-term called – ‘Knowledge of the World Week’ as well as through assemblies and PSHE.

Children of any faith and those of no faith are encouraged to value everyone and their beliefs equally. Shared assembly times focus on celebration and the worship of all of those within the school community and aim:

• To show interest in and concern for members of the school community
• To celebrate special occasions together
• To show concern for the daily happenings in school life, the local community and wider world
• To share appreciation of worthwhile activities undertaken by groups within the school
• To reflect upon dimensions of human life, the wonderful, beautiful, joyful, heroic, humorous, tragic, ugly, sorrowful, solemn.

Parents have the right to withdraw their child from Religious Education and/or Collective Worship.

Christianity is taught in every year group and teaching teams will link up other religions to work with the topics that the classes are covering, for example; Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism or Sikhism. Through KOTW children have the chance to produce art, cooking, visit places of worship and meet leaders of different religions. They will then be able to either verbally, with pieces of writing or by creating a poster or video to summarise their understanding and application of key vocabulary. These termly summative assessments are used to determine the children's understanding and inform teacher’s planning and further differentiated support for pupils. This data is reviewed on a termly basis via Depth of Learning and SLT who also carry out learning walks, book scrutinise and lesson observations. Additionally, there are pupil conferencing and questionnaire opportunities for children to feed back about what they feel they have learnt well, what they’ve enjoyed learning and areas that could be improved to provide better learning opportunities.

Children also take part in certain religious events throughout the year to build on their learning and knowledge. KS1 perform the Nativity Story through a Christmas production and the whole school participates in assemblies to celebrate Easter as well as at least one significant religious event not linked to Christianity, such as Ramadan. There are no presumptions made as to the religious backgrounds, and beliefs and values of the children and the staff. 

We value the religious background of all members of the school community and hope that this will encourage individuals to share their own experiences with others freely.  All religions and their communities are treated with respect and sensitivity, and we value the links, which are, and can be made between home, school, and a faith community.

IMPACT

The impact of our curriculum is measured by the progress children make with their learning and understanding. By the end of year, pupils are expected to know, understand, and apply skills related to their attainment targets. Children will make at least good progress from their last point of assessment. Our KOTW curriculum will mean that children have explored, questioned, and gained an understanding of a range of religions ready for their move to Secondary School.

The children at Larwood Primary School enjoy learning about other religions and why people choose or choose not to follow a religion. Through their KOTW learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. They are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life and worship, which they are then able to communicate to the wider community. Children demonstrate a positive attitude and demonstrate respectful behaviour to all, and this is transferable outside of school in the wider community and beyond.