Religion & Worldviews

‘Religion is like an iceberg. As you unpack ideas, you come to understand deeper meaning.’

Religion and Worldviews (R&W) has a contribution to make to the personal development and well-being of every pupil. The ability to explain our own values and beliefs and to understand more about the beliefs and values of others is more important than ever.

We at the Round House believe that R&W plays an important part in the broad-based curriculum provided for our children. It supports the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the children as well as areas such as Personal and Social Development and Creative Development.

What does the National Curriculum say about R&W?

Whilst it's compulsory for all maintained schools to provide Religious Education, it's not part of the National Curriculum. This means that the Government doesn't dictate what is taught, and there are no mandatory assessments in the subject at primary or secondary level. At the Round House, we follow the Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. Click on the link below to look in closer detail at the syllabus:

Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus - RE (2023- 28)

How we teach R&W at The Round House:

Aims & Objectives

Following the Kapow scheme of work, we aim to enable pupils to develop positive attitudes to their learning and to the beliefs and values of others through the development of four attitudes which are essential for good learning in religious education:

• self-awareness

• respect for all

• open-mindedness

• appreciation and wonder.

We believe children learn best when:

- They are provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively

- They are encouraged to ask as well as answer questions

- They visit places of interest, when applicable

- They have access to secondary sources such as books and photographs

- Visitors talk about personal experiences of religious beliefs, when applicable

- They listen to and interact with religious stories

- They are shown, or use independently, resources from the internet and videos

- They are able to use non-fiction books for research

We recognise the fact that we have a wide range of children within our classes, and so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by offering a variety of differentiated activities for pupils, including:

- Providing children with both taught religious education sessions and the opportunity to explore through role-play and more independent activities is, we believe, integral to the teaching of R&W.

- Encouraging pupils to engage in class discussions, including giving them the opportunity to ask and answer questions.

- Initiating R&W activities which give pupils the opportunity to independently reflect upon previous discussions and learning.

- Offering opportunities for the children to carry out independent learning, and to ask questions linking to specific religions and R&W topics.

- Ensuring that expectations of work within R&W sessions are suitably high and this is explicitly taught to all pupils.

- Specifying success criteria that underpin the required learning to help children when completing activities to a good standard.

Teaching & Learning within the EYFS

R&W, although not taught explicitly within the Early Years classroom, is evident in many of the different EYFS topics. Through a combination of exploratory play and class discussion, children start to develop their understanding of other's individual beliefs. Teachers and teaching assistants will provide opportunity for class discussions and will encourage conversations that require children to develop their understanding and empathetic skills.

Pupil Assessment

The assessment of pupil progress within R&W is on-going by the class teacher and is part of formative assessment. Children are given opportunities to write at length on R&W-related topics: this provides an opportunity to assess their knowledge and understanding, and also provides them with additional opportunities to write for a purpose. The children respond to learning questions throughout each unit, with their ability to answer these being the basis for assessment.

Parents/Guardians have the right to withdraw their child from any religious education teaching or collective worship. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact the Headteacher.

Useful Website Links

Below are links to the BBC Bitesize RE pages for KS1 and KS2, which offer different learning opportunities for the children to access and engage with. Explore and enjoy!

KS1 Resources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zxnygk7

KS2 Resources:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z7hs34j

Virtual Tours of Religious Spaces

https://churchpop.com/2014/08/10/12-amazing-virtual-tours-of-the-worlds-most-spectacular-churches/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLce9i2Ci5w - tour of a mosque

http://e4education.uk-virtualtours.co.uk/temple/ - 3D virtual tour of a gurdwara

http://www.samrohn.com/360-panorama/central-synagogue-new-york-city/ - 3D virtual tour of a synagogue

https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/angkor/ - virtual tour of Angkhor Wat, largest Hindu temple complex in the world

https://buddhisttemple.ca/our-temple/virtual-tour/ - virtual tour of Buddhist temple