Religious Education
Intent – What are our aims in R.E.?
To enable children to:
- know about and understand Christianity as a living world faith, by exploring core theological concepts.
- develop knowledge and skills in making sense of biblical texts and understanding their impact in the lives of Christians.
- develop the ability to connect, critically reflect upon, evaluate and apply their learning to their own growing understanding of religion and belief of themselves, the world and human experience.
- cultivate respect for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and beliefs of Christian tradition, whilst showing respect, tolerance and understanding of other world religions.
- to acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other world religions, in particular; Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.
- learn to respect themselves and understand their own identity, to respect others, and to understand their own and others’ rights and responsibilities.
- develop an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, societies and cultures.
- develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues, with reference to the teachings of other world religions represented in the United Kingdom and develop confidence in their own beliefs and British values.
Implementation – How do we deliver this subject at the Priory School?
| Understanding Christianity Christianity-focused units are taught using the ‘Understanding Christianity’ scheme of work. All year groups from Year R to Year 6 study units on Incarnation, Salvation and Creation to develop a progressive understanding of these core Christian concepts. Each year group from Year 1 to Year 6 also study an additional Understanding Christianity unit. The Understanding Christianity approach comprises three elements which run through all units: making sense of the text, understanding the impact, and making connections.     | Living Difference III The ‘Living Difference’ scheme of work is used to teach other RE units that focus on other religions (Judaism at KS1, Hinduism at LKS2, and Islam at UKS2). The Living Difference model that we use for teaching other world religions emphasises a process of enquiry into concepts. Living Difference identifies three groups of concepts: A concepts common to all people e.g. celebration, remembering, justice B concepts shared by many religions e.g. God, worship, discipleship C concepts distinctive to particular religions e.g. Trinity, Khalsa, Torah  |
We do respect parents’ rights to withdraw their child from RE and worship; this is always through open discussion with the parents and the Headteacher.
Lessons promote an enquiry approach to Religious education and children are provided with opportunities to explore concepts and begin from a child’s experience.
Collective Worship
We are proud to be a Church of England primary school and we provide opportunities to understand the Anglican church year both at school and at Priory Church.
A daily Christian act of worship is an important part of life at the Priory School. We enjoy our weekly visits from the ‘Open the Book’ team and the Priory Church ministry team. We explore a Christian value each half-term, for example generosity. We love to sing and to invite a variety of interesting visitors, including people from other faiths and cultures, to talk to us about their experiences and reflections. We seek to develop our pupils’ involvement in and leading of worship and each child has a ‘prayer buddy’ from a different class to nurture spiritual, as well as social, emotional and academic development.
Global Neighbours
A priority for the school in 2021-22 is to work towards ‘Bronze Accreditation’ in the Christian Aid Global Neighbours programme.
Global Neighbours is an inspiring school accreditation scheme run by Christian Aid. We want to encourage a deeper understanding of global injustice and the Christian response to it here at Priory School.
To achieve accreditation, schools have to demonstrate how they are fulfilling criteria relating to:
• spirituality and worship
• pupil participation in active global citizenship
• community engagement
• school leadership
Global Neighbours across the curriculum
As part of our commitment to ensure that all children are able to develop their critical thinking skills about the world around them and to discover how interdependent we are on one another, The Priory School curriculum ensures that all pupils have opportunities to think about their role as Global Neighbours across a specific area of the curriculum.
- All the children took part in a ‘Round the World’ exhibition in Nov 2021, celebrating different cultures and places. Each class focussed on a different continent.
- Year 6 pupils are encouraged to be ‘courageous advocates’ by championing a cause which is meaningful to them, through the unit ‘Planet Protectors’. The children wrote letters and made sustainable bags from unwanted clothing. In the past the children encouraged others to stop using single use plastic water bottles by providing a new Priory bottle.
- Year 3 has a new unit called, ‘Finding my voice’, which explores issues around the UN rights of the child charter and how we need to defend them.
- Recently, School Council were concerned about the issues facing Afghan refugees in our area and encouraged the school to knit a square, fill a shoebox and provide stationary.
- Children in Year 1 (calling themselves ‘The Priory bears’) raised money as a group of parents and children for the work of DCF (Dorset Children’s Foundation)
Being a good Global Neighbour is more than just feeling sorry for people who are suffering from misfortune – it is about making a positive difference to their lives.
Our next project is the Christmas Jumper ‘Save the Children’ fund raiser.