Lydiate Primary School. Religious Education Policy. Introduction This policy outlines the practices to be followed in the teaching of RE at

Transcription

1 Lydiate Primary School Religious Education Policy Introduction This policy outlines the practices to be followed in the teaching of RE at Lydiate Primary School. A Policy Statement On RE Religious Education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be a person. RE must be taught to all registered pupils in maintained schools, except to those withdrawn by their parents. Following the Sefton SACRE s scheme of work for Religious Education 2007, the majority of work in Religious Education will be based on the Christian faith with the addition of one other major world religion Judaism - at Key Stage 1 and two Judaism, Hinduism and Islam - at Key Stage 2. Religious Education will be allocated not less than 5% of curriculum time. What is RE? Religious Education is an integral part of a child s study of life and experience as a whole. We build upon the child s growing awareness of him/herself, relationships with others and the natural world and their relationship with God. Thus RE occurs naturally as part of the crosscurricular themes as used in schools and is also taught as a distinct subject on the timetable. It takes place through the general atmosphere of the school and is implicit as well as explicit. Explicitly religious material is carefully selected to ensure relevance to the lives of the children and their levels of emotional and intellectual maturity. Aims of teaching RE We aim through our teaching: to provide a course of Religious Education within the framework of the Sefton SACRE s scheme of work guidelines appropriate to the educational needs of the children in our school, at their different stages of development; to contribute to the spiritual, social and moral development of the school as a caring community and the pupils as individuals; to assist and encourage experience of Christian life and worship; through study of other major world religions to encourage an understanding and appreciation of the rich diversity of religious belief and practice in society today. Specific objectives We aim to encourage the children in our school: to develop an enquiring attitude towards religion and to explore activities of prayer and worship; to grow in awareness of others through learning activities involving sharing and co-operation and to develop trust and respect for others; to grow in awareness of themselves as individual people with different senses and capacities and to develop self-esteem;

2 to reflect on their own experiences and the experiences of others; to reflect upon questions concerning the purpose of life and to embark upon a personal search for a faith by which to live. Planning from the Sefton SACRE s scheme of work Guidelines The Sefton SACRE s scheme of work guidelines have two attainment targets, which together with the Primary Vision scheme provide the basis for our planning and teaching. A.T. 1 Learning about Religion to gain knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of Christianity in particular and religions in general. A.T.2 Learning from Religion developing the capacity and skill to respond thoughtfully to and evaluate what they learn about religions and to practice the skills required to engage with religious concepts, beliefs, and practices.. Short-term planning (weekly plans) is produced on the appropriate proforma, identifying learning objectives, differentiated activities and the use of support staff where appropriate. Strategies for the teaching of RE The learning objectives and content of the lessons determine the teaching method used and the activities to be completed. A lesson format we might use is: Introduction, which may include a stimulus (such as a religious artefact or photograph) or a discussion extending a theme already studied-it might also include a short video or the use of a text. Main Teaching Activity this may be at a whole class level or aimed at a group/ individual level. It may involve the use of primary sources of evidence (such as photographs or artefacts) or secondary sources of evidence (such as reference material). Ideas may be recorded through discussion, illustrations, fine artwork or model making or it might be, through the use of writing frames, a more formal written task. Plenary, this might involve a group sharing their progress with the class or the teacher extending the learning objective through further questioning to probe for misconceptions or extend knowledge. It may also be used for the setting/ explaining of homework. Work may be differentiated to take account of different ability levels within the class-this may take the form of stretching the most able through more challenging concepts/photographs or tasks for the SEN pupils that involve less writing, so that RE concepts can be accessed by all. Because the lessons involve much discussion, the scope for writing is less than in other subjects, but written responses are not ignored, especially from older children. Teaching assistants are used to extend learning, for example through working with groups to examine artefacts or record in a specific way.

3 Assessment, Recording and Reporting We appreciate that assessment of progress in Religious Education should be undertaken with sensitivity, based upon the teacher s observations of the child in class or group discussions, activities or recorded work. We are looking to draw broad, general conclusions from a range of evidence over a period of time rather than trying to measure pupils progress against a step by step scale. From: Assessing, Recording and Reporting R.E. Westhill R.E. Centre, Birmingham, 1991 In our planning we will select appropriate areas for assessment working towards the End of Key Stage Statements in the Sefton SACRE s scheme of work guidelines. These will be recorded on the appropriate form and kept in the teacher s assessment file, which may then be passed up to the next teacher. Summative reports will be made to parents at the end of each school year. Links with Literacy RE has a special link with Literacy, especially in oracy and the non-fiction learning objectives in the text level work, but also in the use of language for formal writing in the sentence level work. We encourage pupils to practise skills, such as story-telling, or the re-telling of stories in written form. Children can also practise the writing of explanatory texts and nonchronological reports, using formal/impersonal sentence formation and the passive voice as pupils cover such ideas in Literacy. Writing frames and mind maps can also reinforce the structural elements of language. Links with ICT Opportunities for the use of ICT might be: researching topics on the Internet, presenting ideas using a word processing package, using specific CD Roms that extend geographical knowledge, creating databases of places, people or beliefs. Pupils with special educational needs in RE RE can enhance the learning of children with special educational needs in a variety of ways. Practical activities, such as studying artefacts, can encourage participation, the development of oral skills and deduction techniques, as well as problem solving skills. The use of writing frames can help structure the development of language and careful mixed-ability partnerships can overcome barriers to learning. Some pupils may have a statement of Special Educational Needs under the terms of the 1981 Educational Act, but these pupils may not have special needs in RE. We believe that monitoring is therefore of utmost importance. If skills are undeveloped, then the normal process for identifying and tackling each special need is used. Differentiation can be planned for pupils with special needs in terms of: - Learning objectives can be broken down into smaller parts for children with learning difficulties, giving pupils achievable goals and enabling teachers to monitor progress. Teaching methods can be varied allowing children with difficulties to work with more able pupils so they can learn from each other. The

4 teacher can work with small groups to intensify instruction and encouragement, whilst other groups develop skills requiring more independence. Finally resources are used specifically to target individual needs. More use of practical deduction, using artefacts as a stimulus can be used along side texts for more able readers to teach the skills of religious enquiry. Homework Homework can provide opportunities for children to follow up class activities and complete tasks at home. Although this sort of homework will usually take place at Years 5 and 6 (see the Homework Policy for guidelines), practical activities can be an excellent stimulus at the start of a project throughout the school. Activities may include: - the gathering of sources of evidence; researching a topic at the library or on the computer (the ICT suite is opened twice a week for this sort of activity); interviewing people; doing a short project on a specific issue or religion. Excellence in RE Excellence in RE is celebrated by: the school reward system-this is underpinned by the abundance of verbal praise and certificates, displaying good examples of work around the school, especially in communal areas, sending pupils to the Headteacher for praise and stickers, giving Merit Badge awards once a week. Resources Resources are stored in the resource centre near the dining hall, or on the bookshelf in the Staff Room. A statement on equal opportunities in RE When thinking about religion, in society as a whole, gender and race lines are often reinforced. School RE activities do not follow those barriers: on the contrary, the study of RE seeks to challenge prejudice and dismantle it wherever possible. The shared nature of some of the activities used in RE provides opportunities for working together across barriers and to celebrate the achievements of everyone. Wherever possible groups are mixed and a variety of group mixes can be positive. In the careful choosing of a variety of stimuli from different cultures, religions and genders, we can recognise common human qualities and appreciate the cultural variety in our multicultural society. Health and safety in RE In the units of study, it may be advisable to visit places. In doing this teachers: ensure the correct procedures are followed (see staff handbook);

5 ensure correct insurance procedures are followed, ensure the correct level of supervision is provided (usually 1 adult to 10 pupils-refer to the LA guidelines if in doubt), give attention to possible hazards through pre-visits to sites. Reviewing this policy This policy is to be reviewed with the staff after three years. Policy adopted by the staff on February 3 rd Policy adopted by the Governing Body in April Appendix to R.E. Policy A Working Code - from: A Teacher s Handbook of Religious Education. With regard to the way in which it represents faith communities, the school will: present accurate information about the faith, both its historical development and as it is practised today; convey how the faith is understood from within; focus on key beliefs, values and practices as identified by the faith community itself; indicate the variety of ways in which individual believers may respond to the demands of their faith; as far as practicable involve practitioners of the faith to provide an authentic, insider view, while recognising that there may be a variety of insider views; endeavor to achieve clarity about how faiths differ from one another whilst also pointing to areas of common ground between them. Suggestions from: A Teacher s Handbook of Religious Education (C.E.M.) Is my classroom a place where: each pupil s identity (personal, cultural and religious) is affirmed? each pupil is praised whenever they do anything praiseworthy? each pupil is listened to by the teacher and by other pupils whenever they are speaking? all pupils understand that they are expected to accord to others respect they would wish for themselves? the use of scorn or ridicule is treated as a serious misdemeanour? emphasis is placed on our common human experience as well as our differences? the right of us all to share in the resources of the planet is acknowledged and reinforced through practical action for the underprivileged? non-materialistic values are recognised as important? there is a commitment to seeking the truth? there is an understanding that truth is expressed through story and drama, art, painting and music as well as through history and science? the teacher sets a personal example of integrity by being truthful in all respects, including the willingness to admit ignorance?