As a Church of England School, we strongly believe that our children have much to learn from the study of Christianity and other World Faiths. We encourage our children to take an enquiry based approach where they ask questions and seek to find answers to some of life’s big questions.

As a Voluntary Controlled school, we follow the Kent Agreed Syllabus using the Understanding Christianity materials alongside units where pupils develop their knowledge of the world faiths, and their understanding and awareness of the beliefs, values and traditions of other individuals, societies, communities and cultures. We encourage our pupils to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences.

You can see our curriculum overview for RE here.

INTENT

At Trottiscliffe (VC) Church of England Primary School the teaching of Christianity is at the heart of our RE curriculum, while preparing pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain. The pupils will gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studied.

At Trottiscliffe Religious Education is taught as academic subject. All pupils are entitled to Religious Education that is delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner. Pupils are entitled to a balanced RE curriculum which enquires into religions and through theology, philosophy, and the human and the social sciences. The pupils will know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core beliefs using an approach that critically engages with biblical text. It is designed as a coherent curriculum that enables progress through ordered and sequential learning developing both knowledge and skills. There is a clear curriculum vision and intent, a structure for implementation and provision and a process for evaluating impact.

At Trottiscliffe the pupils and their families can expect an RE curriculum that enables pupils to acquire a rich, deep knowledge and understanding of Christian belief and practice, alongside our school values of respect, hope, wisdom and community. The pupils will recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places. Parents can expect the use of high-quality resources, for example, the Understanding Christianity resources. Pupils can expect that teaching and learning at Trottiscliffe will use an approach that engages with Biblical text and theological ideas so they can explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking in a safe environment. Pupils can expect to be engaged and challenged through an exploration of core concepts and questions.

IMPLEMENTATION

At Trottiscliffe, our religious education curriculum follows the ’Understanding Christianity’ scheme. This scheme provides children with a coherent curriculum

that enables progress through ordered and sequential learning developing both knowledge and skills. It uses big questions as central to its approach and following the big freeze/story. These questions are then explored in different ways and children are encourages to ask their own questions. Throughout their time at Trottiscliffe our children explore many religions and increase their awareness of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism.

IMPACT

We use a range of strategies to assess Re to ensure consistent progression throughout the school. This includes:

• Book looks
• Big book looks
• Pupil voice
• Feedback in lessons.