Religious Education
Religious education lessons provide the opportunity to learn about the Christian faith as well as other faiths. The school follows the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus, ‘The Living Difference III’, which is broad and of a Christian ethos. RE is taught through half-termly Concept Days where the children spend blocks of time exploring an RE based Concept.
The concepts follow broad topics, such as ‘Sad and Happy’, ‘God Talk’, ‘Ritual’ or ‘Imagery’, which we relate to the children’s own experiences and to religious festivals. These days see us working in three age groups, with children working in mixed groups for activities, which may involve art, drama and trips. Years R,1 and 2 look at both Hinduism and Christianity, so that the children can begin to compare different religious festivals, customs and beliefs. Years 3 & 4 study Christianity and Judaism, with Years 5 & 6 studying Christianity and Islam.
To support children’s understanding of the concepts, RE is taught following 5 steps of a wheel: enquire, contextualise, evaluate, communicate, apply. This enables them to link their learning with their own life experiences.
Concept days take place once every half term and are in addition to our Collective Worship themes. They also complement the work we do in circle time, for example a concept day on ‘New Beginnings’ enabled the children to talk about moving on to a new class or school and the feelings they might have about this.
Religious Education Lead: Mrs Ingham Thomas