Curriculum for Religious Education

RE is an academic subject that has a high profile in our school curriculum. It is given priority by leaders, including governors, who ensure that the teaching, learning and resourcing of RE is comparable with other curriculum subjects.

This means that the RE curriculum:

• is intrinsic to the outworking of our distinctive Christian vision in enabling all pupils to flourish;
• contributes to British values and to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development;
• is delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner to engage and challenge all pupils through an exploration of core concepts and questions;
• provides meaningful and informed dialogue with a range of religions of world-views;
• reflects a good balance between the disciplines of theology, human science and philosophy;
• enables pupils to acquire a rich, deep knowledge and understanding of Christian belief and practice, including the ways in which it is diverse;
• provides opportunities for pupils to understand the role of foundational texts, beliefs, rituals and practices and how they help to form identity in a range of religions and world-views;
• ensures that all pupils’ contributions are valued in RE as they draw on their own experiences and beliefs;
• is adapted to ensure all pupils make progress and flourish.

We use Questful RE, a scheme which meets the requirements of the LAS. We also use Understanding Christianity, a resource to support the teaching of RE.

There are clear learning outcomes for all units of work, based on the appropriately high expectations we have for all our pupils. Our RE curriculum is sequential and builds on prior learning, which ensures that there is continuity and progression for all pupils as they move through the school.

Curriculum Balance and Time

At Bridekirk Dovenby School, the faiths and world-views taught in RE are:

EYFS and Key Stage 1

A progressive study of Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism.

Encountering Islam and World Views – Humanism

Key Stage 2

A progressive study of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam

Encountering Buddhism, Sikhism and World Views – Humanism

RE has at least 5% of curriculum time, 38 hours per year (1 hour a week), in the foundation stage and key stage 1 increasing to 47.5 hours per year (1.25 hours a week) in key stage 2. Pupils also engage in enrichment activities outside those hours when visiting speakers come in to school or the children go out on a trip.

Of the RE taught, 60% focus on Christianity and 40% focus on other faiths. As our school serves a largely white rural community, we feel it is important to use our RE lessons to celebrate diversity and to develop our pupils as global citizens with a respectful and secure understanding of the beliefs and practices of their neighbours across the country and round the world, whilst still maintaining the strong Christian culture of the school.

A range of visitors support the teaching of RE, and whenever possible, there will be planned visits to places of worship and other places of interest.

Allocated curriculum time is only ever spent on RE-related learning. Collective Worship is timetabled separately.

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC) / British Values

• RE is a key opportunity to develop morally, spiritually, socially and culturally. We invite pupils to reflect on their personal responses to issues and consider respectfully those of others.
• We encourage pupils to consider the answers offered by faith and other groups to questions of meaning and purpose and to problems within society, as well as their own experiences.
• RE also strongly supports the school’s citizenship work by introducing pupils to the significance of belonging to a community, diversity within communities, faith rules and their application to moral and ethical issues and cultural influences on religious practice. This includes work on the British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and respect.