Religious Education
What is Religious Education at Westglade?
At Westglade, our RE curriculum aims to create responsible citizens, who are knowledgeable and respectful of different faiths and world views. Through studying religious and world views in this way, our curriculum promotes spiritual, cultural, social and moral development, which in turn will support our children’s understanding of British Values such as acceptance and respect for others, who hold different world views. Our children will also consider the role of inspirational leaders in society today and in the past; thinking about what attributes they may share or wish to adopt in their own lives. In addition to taking part in lessons, our children could also receive visitors into school sharing a range of religious viewpoints, as well as being given opportunities to visit varied places of worship.
Religious Education is an essential subject in educating our children about the world in which they live. It not only provides a knowledge of different religions but also reinforces the British Values of mutual respect and tolerance. It is taught as part of the broad and balanced curriculum. Parents do have the right to withdraw their child from part or all of this subject. Please speak to the headteacher if you would like to make this request.
You can find out more about how we teach our Religious Education curriculum at Westglade by viewing our policy.
How is Religious Education progressive?
At Westglade Primary School, we plan our RE curriculum in accordance with the latest Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Agreed Syllabus 2021-2026. We ensure that the units studied in religious education build upon prior learning and we offer opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each unit through well planned progression. In order to do this, the knowledge paths were created to map out the minimum level of knowledge our children should have in religious education within each year group. To complement this, we developed a skills ladder for RE to show the progression from Nursery to Year 6, which demonstrates how our children’ skills will build from one year to the next. Fundamentally, it has been the professional knowledge of our children that we have used to ensure that our RE curriculum is meaningful and allows them to gain insights and knowledge to help equip them to become responsible citizens, ready to contribute positively to our society and the wider world.
How do we teach Religious Education?
Religious Education at Westglade is taught to all children in the school, including those in EYFS. In nursery and reception classes, religious education is an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. We relate the religious education aspects of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the ‘Understanding of the World’ Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five. From Years 1-6, our children are taught through explicit weekly RE lessons, where we encourage our children to regard themselves as RE thinkers. Flashbacks are used to ensure we provide regular opportunities for our children to reflect on their knowledge and our lessons are planned in response to key questions relating to our units of work within each year group. The children have access to a range of resources that help in supporting them to think, act and work like responsible members in our society, as well as highlighting the key vocabulary they need to be able to use to express their ideas, values and deeper thinking about the world in which they live.
What does Religious Education look like?