The John Moore Primary School
Little Foxes
RE
RE
At the John Moore Primary School, we believe R.E. enriches each child’s personal development by helping them to explore and express their own sense of identity and belonging. It equips them with the knowledge and skills to engage in today’s world with curiosity, open-mindedness and tolerance.
The John Moore Primary school follows the Gloucestershire Agreed syllabus, which aims “to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.” Our approach has three core elements which are woven together: pupils learn to ‘make sense’ of the religions and beliefs studied, ‘understand the impact’ of these beliefs in people’s lives, and to ‘make connections’ in their learning and their wider experience of the world. We ensure the children have knowledge and understanding of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism, as well as covering non-religious world views.
Every religion and world view studied at The John Moore Primary School enriches the education of all pupils. Differences are celebrated as positive, an opportunity to learn and reflect. Every lesson enables our children to learn actively, reflect thoughtfully and raise their own questions. We provide exciting opportunities to forge links with home while reaching beyond school to local, national and global communities.
The children in our school are able to express and explain their opinions and beliefs with clarity and listen to the views of others with curiosity and respect. We want them to ask big questions. Everyone is encouraged to share their questions, ideas and experiences freely.
We strive to bring the subject to life through quality teaching and resources. This includes the pupils themselves who are encouraged to share their beliefs and experiences within their class and with others in the school. Visitors from faith communities are invited into school and visits to places of worship further enrich the curriculum. We have links with the Christian community in Tewkesbury with visits to the Abbey and other local churches and an “open the book” team. We make links with the Jewish community in Cheltenham and the Hindu community in Gloucester through a visit to the mandir. The use of artefacts, including sacred texts, is used in lessons to stimulate interest and underpin teaching. Each year the local churches organise “Soul Space” where they transform an area in our school into a safe place to reflect and ask challenging questions.
RE reaches out far and wide into our wider curriculum with key links to history, geography, music and art and design. It has a crucial role in encouraging SMSC development and promotes British vales by encouraging tolerance within our school community and out into the wider world. It holds hands closely with our Talk 4 Writing and Talk for Reading as it celebrates storytelling and provides opportunities to explore the language and meaning of sacred texts. Children are encouraged to articulate their ideas effectively and with clarity, both orally and in writing.
The Religious Education curriculum is carefully planned to ensure progression across the year groups alongside the opportunity to build on prior knowledge and skills. We emphasise the key religious vocabulary needed to engage in discussions within Religious Education lessons. We ensure our lessons provide high quality learning and outcomes so all children can achieve their potential within RE.
Key Documents
The John Moore Primary RE Curriculum Map