Religious Education and World Views

The primary purpose of RE at Gorseland is to develop religious literacy: the ability to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and belief. Through RE, we aim to give children valuable insights into the diverse beliefs and opinions held by people today. It helps with their own personal development and supports an understanding of the spiritual, moral, social & cultural questions that surface again and again in their lives.

We also believe that a clear knowledge of religions and religious practices will, in the future, support much of their historical learning, as they learn about the impact of faith on many historical events. 

We think it is essential that children start from a strong sense of their place in a family and the recognition of the celebrations that happen there. At Gorseland we value the experiences and faiths of those in our classes. We do however appreciate that Gorseland school lacks the religious diversity which might be represented in other schools, which makes RE possibly even more important. We believe that RE provides a clear opportunity to educate our pupils about people, religions and cultures within Britain as a whole. To support this, where possible, we welcome visitors from various faiths and visits to faith buildings and communities.

At Gorseland, we use our RE lessons to teach and explore different religions and worldviews. Our religious education is approached with ‘world view’ thinking, ie not all Jewish people practise their faith in the same way, so we might say things like “Some people with a Jewish world view celebrate Shabbat by…”. Our intent here is to acknowledge all people’s faiths and religious perspectives and individuality even within one faith.

Our aims and objectives are for children:

• To gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studied.

• To engage with challenging spiritual and moral questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience.

• To recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places, particularly linking to other curriculum learning areas.

• To explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.

• To have respect for other peoples’ views and to celebrate the diversity in society 

RE and World Views education at Gorseland is inclusive, open and broad, and it explores a range of religious and non-religious world views. We feel it is invaluable for enabling our children to know more about the people with whom they share this school and prepares them for life beyond Gorseland. This in turn creates children who are knowledgeable with understanding and acceptance of others. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from all or part of RE on the grounds that they wish to provide their own RE. This provision will be the parents’ responsibility, and whilst the school will make sure your child is supervised safely during RE and World Views sessions, alternative teaching will not be provided. If you choose to withdraw your child from all or part of RE we ask that you put your request in writing to the headteacher and RE lead. We may then ask to have a conversation with you to better understand your request and how you are going to support your child in their RE lesson times.

At Gorseland, RE is taught through the Emmanuel Project scheme of work, which fulfils RE requirements for all schools, and is based on the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus. 

The Emmanuel Project scheme of work Follows an enquiry cycle model within each unit, whereby children engage with new material, make enquiries, explore these enquiries, evaluate their learning and express their learning through a range of tasks and activities. All the units expand the EXPLORE section into three areas (scriptural text or narrative, community practice and daily living) to ensure a balanced approach to religious material, rather than an approach that focuses solely on religious festivals or sacred stories. Lessons focus on key beliefs and concepts of six different faiths and a non-religious worldview, as the driver to get to the heart of faith and link together stories, practices, festivals and ways of life. 

In accordance with the Suffolk Syllabus, RE at Gorseland is presented as a blend of academic disciplines, in particular: theology; human and social science; and philosophy. Applied to learning in RE, these provide a more balanced picture of religions and worldviews, which in turn leads to better religious literacy. 

RE at Gorseland provides opportunities for children and young people to reflect and analyse, to discuss and debate, to explore and discover, and to learn more about the world in which they live.

Christianity is taught in depth at each key stage to ‘reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian’ (Education Act 1988) and because it has had the most influence on the culture and history of British society.

We aim to provide children with engaging and unforgettable experiences in religious education. Our children will learn about the variety of religions in the world we live in to increase their awareness and understanding of different cultures and faiths. Our learners think about what drives people of faith to live the way they do. This builds each child’s ‘religious literacy’, helping them understand the nature of religion and belief in the world in which they live. Children then have the opportunity to learn from this religious belief e.g. reconciliation, and put this into practice in their own lives.

The intended outcome of our RE curriculum is that children will:

• develop knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions and world-views

• develop awareness and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, practices, forms of expression and the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures learn from the diversity of different religions, beliefs, values and traditions whilst affirming their own faith or search for meaning 

• reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and communicate their responses 

• develop their sense of identity and belonging and enable them to flourish individually within their communities, as citizens in a pluralistic society and global community

• prepare for adult life and employment by developing respect and sensitivity to others, in particular those with different faiths and beliefs, and to combat prejudice and negative discrimination.

Children complete quizzes at the end of the majority of lessons which assess the key knowledge from that lesson as well as prior knowledge from previous lessons. Teachers use the information gathered from these quizzes to address misconceptions and move the children's learning on. At the end of each unit, children complete a quiz which assesses the key knowledge from the whole unit. The children's quiz scores are used alongside teachers' observations of learning to form a termly judgment as to whether each child has met, exceeded or is working towards the expected standard in RE.

The RE subject leader monitors teaching and learning in their subject through observing teaching and learning in lessons, analysing the work produced by children, talking to samples of children in different year groups about what they know and remember from their learning and termly data analysis to track the progress of learning in their subject across the school.