Learning & Curriculum
RE
The delivery of the RE curriculum at Masefield is rooted in the belief that it both supports and strengthens what we aim to do in every aspect of school life. Our caring ethos and the value which we place on the development of the whole child; spiritually, morally, socially, culturally and intellectually is reflected in the RE curriculum. At Masefield Religious Education also further supports our commitment to teaching and upholding fundamental British Values.
At Masefield, RE is taught as a discrete subject in order that the development of knowledge and understanding is taught meaningfully and explicitly. Naturally, links are made to other areas of the curriculum but this does not dilute the quality and entitlement of high quality RE teaching.
The school’s long term plan for RE follows the guidelines of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) for Bolton and sets out the content of teaching within in each year group. This is supported by the school’s RE progression document, which demonstrates learning outcomes within each strand of development within an RE unit. Medium term plans are taken from the locally agreed syllabus and short term planning details how this content is developed over a series of lessons within the unit of work. The organisation of the RE curriculum provides structured opportunities for pupils of any ability and level of development to:
· acquire and develop knowledge and understanding of principal world faiths practised in Great Britain. These include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, each of which is represented in Bolton;
· develop an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, societies and cultures, including the local community;
· develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements regarding religious and moral issues with reference to the teachings of the principal religions and non-religious world views;
· enhance their own spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by:
o developing awareness of the fundamental questions of life arising from human experiences, and how religious beliefs and practices can relate to them;
o responding to the fundamental questions of life in the light of their experience and with reference to religious beliefs and practices;
o reflecting on their own beliefs, values and experiences in the light of their study;
o expressing their own personal viewpoints in a thoughtful, reasoned and considerate way;
o recognise the right of people to hold different beliefs within an ethnically and socially diverse society.
RE Curriculum
Our ambition at Masefield, is to prepare our children to become knowledgeable and open-minded members of the diverse society that we live in today. We encourage our children to take pride in their heritage and treat everybody with equal respect. We want to mould the children into respectful members of society who understand and celebrate the diversity in the local community. We allow the children to ask questions and explore possible answers to the important questions about life, which are raised by religion and belief.
Alongside our progressive timetable, the children have access to many thrilling opportunities that bring our ambitious curriculum to life. These include workshops where external professionals are brought into school or trips to religious buildings and places of worship. These opportunities support and deepen the knowledge that is being learnt in the classrooms so the children can see the connections and bring the religious concept to life!
We ensure the children have a safe space in which they can begin to make sense of our current world by raising important questions and exploring possible answers. We aim to contribute to a cohesive community and give our children the best possible opportunities that will help them to grow into well informed, kind hearted young adults, that want to make a difference in today’s world. We do this by exploring different religious beliefs and educating our children well about these beliefs. We hope our children leave Masefield with open minds and the drive to explore our diverse world even further in the future.
High quality resources and texts underpinning our RE curriculum
Our R.E curriculum, is underpinned by religious texts therefore we have good quality Bibles that we use when reading and learning the religious stories in Christianity. We also use video clips, websites and workshops to learn other religious stories and their meanings within every topic and religion that is part of our curriculum.