RE & Collective Worship

 

Aims and Objectives
We develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths, and we address the fundamental questions in life. We enable children to develop a sound knowledge of not only Christianity, but also the other World religions. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. We help the children to learn from religions as well as about religions.
 
The aims of religious education and collective worship are to help children to:
  • Develop an awareness of spiritual and moral issues in life experiences.
  • Develop knowledge and understanding of World religions.
  • Develop an understanding of what it means to be committed to a religious tradition and worship God.
  • Be able to reflect on their own experiences and to develop a personal response to the fundamental questions of life.
  • Develop an understanding of religious traditions and to appreciate the cultural differences in Britain today.
  • Develop investigative and research skills and to enable them to make reasoned judgements about religious issues.
  • Have respect for other people’s views and to celebrate diversity.
  • Develop a community spirit, a common ethos and shared values.
  • Reinforce positive attitudes using the Seal, PHSE and Citizenship resources
 
The Legal Position of R.E./ Collective worship
Our school curriculum for RE meets the requirements of the 1988 Education Reform Act. The Act states that RE is compulsory for all children, including those who are less than 5 years old i.e. Reception.
Our curriculum meets the requirements of the Lincolnshire 2006 Syllabus.
A daily act of Collective Worship takes place to meet legal requirements.
 
Collective Worship
Old Leake primary and Nursery School is situated in the parish of Old Leake in the dioceses of Boston.
No local vicar at present but will be included.
Mr Michael Jacques is a churchwarden and a member of the Board of Governors.
Rev Julie Doddrell is our Methodist Minister for the area.
Miss Hannah Creasey is from New Life Christian Fellowship, Boston.
All the above visit regularly, Hannah Creasey and Rev Doddrell taking assemblies twice a term and visiting classes to enrich the curriculum. Hannah Creasey also coordinates the shoebox appeal for Operation Christmas Child.
 
 
Planning, Content and Delivery.
A daily act of worship can take place in the morning for the whole school. It will be in accordance with the wishes of The Church of England and will be reflect the Christian tradition and multicultural diversity. The life of the school, its aims and values, the special times within the school and the wider community, will be celebrated in the coming together of staff and pupils, typically in assemblies.
 
Assemblies
 
Assemblies may be taken by: the Head teacher, members of staff, the children and visitors. Once a term each class will lead an assembly, inviting their parents to attend.
Assemblies will be of various kinds, including religious, moral, information on school events, problems, charity collections, safety/ danger, music and drama.
Special acts of worship will take place in the parish church with reference to the Christian calendar.
 
Collective Worship is recorded in the Collective Worship folder, kept on the common drive and includes themes, leaders, dates and records of the daily Act.
 
 
 
Teaching and Learning Style
  • Our teaching and learning style in R.E. allowing children to:
(i)                 Learn about traditions and
(ii)                Reflect upon what religious ideas and concepts mean to them.
Teaching enables children to extend their own sense of values and promotes their spiritual growth and development. We encourage children to think about their own views and values.
  • Our teaching and learning styles in R.E. enables children to build on their own experiences and extend their knowledge and understanding of religious traditions.
Due to the special rural features of Old Leake Primary school and lack of religious experiences, we have chosen to build in study of the Christian religious festivals such as Harvest, Christmas and Easter each year to develop children’s’ knowledge and understanding of festivals celebrated in the Jewish, Hindu, Islam and Sikh religions.
It is the intention of staff to organise visits to places of worship and to invite representatives of religious groups into school.
  • Children carry out research into religious topics. They study particular religious faiths and compare the religious views of different faiths on topics such as festivals, rites of passage.
  • We recognise that the classes in our school have children of a wide range of ability. We provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching work to the ability of the child, from those with learning difficulties to the more able, through differentiated teaching activities.
 
Curriculum Planning
  • We plan our religious education curriculum in accordance with the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus (2006) for R.E. We ensure that the topics studied in RE build upon prior learning. We offer opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each unit of work. The planned progression built into the scheme of work ensures children have an increasing challenge as they move from year group to year group.
  • Planning for the RE curriculum is a 3 pronged approach i.e. Long-term, Medium-term and Short-term. Each year group studies its own specified units of work linking to the six areas of learning.
  • The Class Teacher is responsible for the planning of each lesson, catering for specific learning objectives and end of unit assessment.
 
Foundation Stage 
Reception children work on the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning of the Foundation Stage.
 
Contribution of R.E. to the Teaching of Other Subjects
RE contributes significantly to the teaching of English by actively promoting skills of reading and writing. Drama conventions and speaking and listening skills enable the children to ‘experience’ some aspects of religion. Children also record information using ICT and research RE topics using the Internet. Many teachers are now using interactive whiteboard technology. Through RE children learn about values and moral beliefs that underpin individual’s choices of behaviour. 
 
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
Through the teaching of RE we provide opportunities for spiritual development. Children consider and respond to questions concerning the meaning and purpose of life. Children explore issues of religious faith and values trying to empathise with how it feels to be a member of different religious faiths.
 
Teaching RE to Children with S.E.N.
In school we teach RE to all children, whatever their ability. RE forms part of the school curriculum policy to provide a broad and balanced education to all pupils. Through our RE teaching we provide learning opportunities that enable all children to make progress. We do this by setting suitable learning challenges and responding to each child’s different needs. Assessment against the National Curriculum allows us to consider each child’s progress and attainment against expected levels. Pupils who have IEP’s or CHIPS(challenging individual plans) may have RE targets included on them where appropriate. We enable pupils to have access to the full range of activities involved in learning RE. When visits are arranged a full risk assessment will be carried out.
 
Assessment and Recording
  • Class Teachers assess children’s work in RE by making informal assessments during lessons. On completion of a piece of work, the teacher marks the completed (see Marking Policy) At the end of a unit of work teachers assess each child in accordance with L.A.S.
  • The RE Subject-leader keeps samples of children’s work, which is used to show the expected level of achievement in RE for each cohort of children, they also monitor short term planning and children’s books.
 
Resources
  • RE resources have been audited recently to take account of additional materials. Resources are kept centrally in the cupboard near the PE cupboard
  • We have Islamic, Christian, Hinduism and Judaism artefacts.
  • We have a range of multimedia resources including videos and CD Roms.
  • We have suitable editions of Children’s Bibles which are available from the school library.
  • We have recently updated the teaching materials so that all age groups, religions and topics are covered from the Long and Medium term planning.
  • Collective Worship resources are stored in the library and Assembly web sites used.
 
Monitoring and Review
  • The RE Subject-leader is responsible for monitoring the standards of pupil’s work and the quality of teaching in RE. The Subject-leader is also responsible for supporting colleagues in the teaching of RE and for keeping them informed about current developments, and for providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school.
  • The school’s provision of worship will be evaluated annually to consider whether it meets the needs of all the pupils and whether pupils are making progress in acquiring skills and abilities in organising and leading worship. The Governors will play an important role in the monitoring and evaluation of this policy.
 
 
    • Parents have the right to withdraw their children from acts of worship and RE lessons. This should be discussed with the Head teacher. Suitable supervised activities will be provided after consultation with parents.
 
 
 
Signed __________________________Chairman of Governors ____________Date
 
 
Signed ______________________________ Headteacher _____________________ Date
 
 
 
 
Review Date ________________________