Brookvale Primary School

Intent

Brookvale Primary School sets out to develop confident, resilient, caring, enquiring citizens, prepared for the future. We provide an inclusive, broad and rich curriculum for all children, which educates & equips children with skills and knowledge for life. Through the teaching of Religious Education our intent is to help pupils:

• Develop their knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths to help make sense of their diverse world and their place within it.

• To understand and respect others religious and cultural differences and to live and work cooperatively with others.

• To have an awareness of their own spiritual and moral development and to be able to develop their own well informed world views in a safe environment whilst being respectful of others.

• To be well prepared for life in the local and global community, so that they grow up committed to equal opportunities for all.

Implementation Since 2016 Halton SACRE have adopted the Lancashire Agreed Syllabus. This was reviewed in 2021 and has been adopted by the borough for a further 5 years. At Brookvale each year group follows the suggested curriculum from the The Lancashire Agreed Syllabus for RE 2021 - 'Searching for Meaning, what it is to be human' The syllabus is based on the expectation that a minimum of 5% curriculum time is allocated to the teaching of Religious Education. Each year group has a key question which provides the central line of enquiry for the year, and then focus questions that provide a point of exploration within each religion. Pupils complete a unit of work each half term based on one religion that is structured to include the following four elements: • Shared human experience (We) - experiences common to all human beings such as love and loss, thankfulness, and community

• Living religious tradition (They) – The way principal religious traditions are followed in the world. Eg prayer, ceremonies

• Beliefs and values (They) - The theology that lies at the heart of these traditions, ie where beliefs come from, how they are applied, and how they relate to each other

• The search for personal meaning (Me) – How the insights derived from the other three aspects aid the development of our own beliefs, values and attitudes. Christianity is studied in all year groups to ‘reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian’. This is taught within three strands: God, Jesus and Church. The 5 other major religious traditions of Great Britain: Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism and Buddhism are studied across the key stages with Christianity, Islam and Hindu Dharma being taught progressively across all year groups. Learning is supported and enriched through the provision of artefacts from all 6 religions studied, and by regular visits from a local member of the Christian church to talk in assemblies and to individual classes about topics on Christianity. Visits to different places of worship are also encouraged where possible. We ensure that the curriculum that is adapted and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Impact

All our children arrive with different starting points in their knowledge of what religion is, but all children will achieve their very best possible. They will make progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically. Knowledge, understanding and skills will be secured and embedded so that children attain highly and are fully prepared for secondary school. The teaching of RE as a distinct subject will make important contributions to other parts of the curriculum such as English, Art, History, Geography, and PSED. It will also help develop higher order thinking skills and spiritual development and thus make a significant contribution to promoting British values and developing community cohesion. Children will be respectful and tolerant to the views of others. They will take pride in all that they do, always striving to do their best. They will demonstrate emotional resilience and the ability to persevere when they encounter challenge. They will develop a sense of selfawareness and become confident in their own abilities. They will be kind, respectful and honest citizens, demonstrate inclusive attitudes and have a sense of their role in our wider society. They will be prepared for a future of life-long learning.