RE

Intent

As a Church of England School, RE  is regarded as a core subject and the units help to develop the children's understanding of the different worldviews around the world and engage the children in creative and exciting activities. We want the children to gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity and the change within the religions and worldviews being studied.RE helps to develop religious literacy, provide children with the skills to hold balanced and well informed conversations and encourages children to know and remember more. The syllabus is built around asking precise questions, making connections and reflecting upon different issues. The four key attitudes for RE from the Suffolk Syllabus: respect for all, open-mindedness, appreciation and wonder and self-awareness are included in our RE teaching and learning.  

Implementation

RE is taught throughout the school with reference to the Suffolk County Council agreed syllabus 2023 and through 'The Emmanuel Project'  provided by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich which supports our delivery of the major world faiths. In Early Years RE is taught for a minimum of 30 minutes and in KS1 and KS2 it is taught for an hour each week.  As a Church of England school we follow the recommendation that greater emphasis is placed on Christianity. We also enrich our curriculum by celebrating Easter, Pentecost, Harvest and Christmas with a service in local church. In Reception, the children learn about Christianity and they have initial encounters with other religions. In Key Stage 1 the children continue to study Christianity but are also introduced to Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. In Key Stage 2 lessons focus on Christianity, however pupils also develop their understanding of other worldviews including Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Humanism. This gives the children an opportunity to ask questions and make comparisons about different religions. The units in the Emmanuel Project are linked to a philosophical big question and the main question linked to the unit, which are referred back to and the children get the chance to answer other questions along the way.  The RE units are also made up of three disciplines: Theology, Human and Social Science and Philosophy.

Impact

RE is monitored in a variety of ways, through discussions with RE Ambassadors, book looks, learning walks, lesson observations, cold and hot tasks, quick quizzes  and pupils voice. All of the learning in the school is evidenced on the RE working walls in each class and in the RE class journals which are available for the children access at any time. Our class journals show a range of pupils ideas and opinions, debates, pictures, art work, drawings, key questions, examples of roleplay, work from all children, links to Theology and Human and Social Science and Philosophy, quick quizzes, example of the working walls, formative assessments and a cold task at the start of the unit and a hot task at end to demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired .

Progress should be clearly evidenced through the cold task and hot tasks, pupils voice and formative assessment sheets. The cold task involves the class being given the enquiry question and big question for that unit and being asked to share what they already know about that faith and ideas about what they think the unit will be about. When all sections of the unit have been taught  the children will complete a hot task as a class to  answer the enquiry question and big question and explain the learning that has taken place throughout the unit. Formative assessment is carried out in each lesson in the the form of a tick sheet and this then collated at the end of the unit to provide summative assessment.

RE Ambassadors meet at least once every term with the RE lead and RE Governor/Local Reverend to discuss their learning in RE and share their thoughts and opinions.

In addition to class teaching of RE, children also learn about other worldviews through whole school RE days and in Collective Worship.

Key Documents

RE Roadmap 2023

LTP 2023

Emmanuel Project Scheme of Work Progression 2023

POS Progression of Disciplines 2023

POS EYFS - KS2 2023

New Syllabus  - 'Where do I Stand' 2023

RE Policy

 RE Statement of Entitlement

End of Key Stage Knowledge

Prayers 

 Early Years and Key Stage One

     

Key Stage 2 

     

Class Journals

Violet Class

Indigo Class

Blue Class

Yellow Class

In RE, we have been finding out how Christians show that reconciliation with God and other people is important. We created 'freeze frames' of what we think reconciliation looks like.

Orange Class

Red Class

We learnt about how Christians show their belief that Jesus is God incarnate. The children imagined what it would be like if Jesus were around today. 

They learnt about the different ways that Jesus described Himself through Bible study of the book of John:

• I am the bread of life (John 6 v.35)
• I am the light of the world (John 8 v.12)
• I am the gate (John 10 v.9)
• I am the good shepherd (John 10 v.14)
• I am the resurrection (John 11 v.25)
• I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14 v.6)
• I am the true vine (Jon 15 v.1)

They interviewed Reverend Susan about her beliefs, posing a series of questions.   

Pupils Voice

Reception 

Christianity

'I am a hero because I help my mum and I am kind, caring and friendly.' 'The Samaritan is the hero in the story. A hero saves you.' 'The story of The Good Samaritan from the Bible  tells you you shouldn't walk off you should help. You should be kind and respectful.' 'I can help others by saying a prayer.' 'I can help others by lighting a candle.'

Year 1 

Christianity	'The shepherd was caring because he found the lost sheep and carried it back. We are Gods sheep and we should follow him.' 'The father forgave his son when he spent all of his money. God loves us and forgives us when we make bad choices.' 'I think God is kind and friendly in his parables.' 'A candle is lit at a baptism to help you shine like God.' 'A cross helps you remember Jesus who died on the cross and you have the sign of the cross on your forehead at a baptism.' 'A baby is welcomed into church at a baptism by getting the sign of the cross when they are baptised.'  'Christians welcome you into church by singing and a baby is welcomed into church by getting a cross on their forehead and by lighting a candle.'
Judaism	'A good deed is being kind to everyone and doing nice things.' 'It's a Mitzvah to share things with your friends and not argue.' 'A Mitzvah is to forgive people.' 'A Mitzvah is for everyone.' 'Tikkun Olam means to fix the world by planting trees.'
Hindu Dharma	‘During Holi they throw powder paint and squirt water.’ ‘Holi is the festival of colour.’ ‘Hindu’s have different deities.’ ’They light a bonfire to remind them of Holika.’ ’Krishna has blue skin.’ ’The evil king wanted Prahlad to worship him and not Lord Vishnu.’

Year 2

Christianity	'Jesus was given the name saviour because it sounds like saver.' Jesus is the most important character in the Christmas story because he is the son of God.' 'Mary is important because she was God's chosen one and the mother of Jesus.'
Judaism	'At Rosh Hashanah there is a shofar horn that is blown to wake people up and they blow it for ten days.' 'The use a shofar to wake up people to repent on Rosh Hashanah.' 'At Yom Kippur I feel happy when I am forgiven because when someone forgives me I feel relieved and I am given another chance.' 'Jewish families talk about repentance at New Year because they have to forgive each other , pray to God and start a sweet new year.'
Islam	'The prophet showed compassion towards the camel by telling the owner to take better care of him and giving the camel more food and water.' 'The story of Muhammed and the thirsty dog  shows Muslims compassion by the man filling up his show with water to give to the dog.' 'Muhammed showed compassion by saving some ants from a fire by putting it out with a blanket.' 'Ramadan helps Muslims feel sorry for poor people because they fast so they feel like they are poor and it makes them think about poor people.'

Year 3 and 4

Christianity	The story called Desmond and the Very Mean World taught us that sometimes you have to say sorry because you can show it in different ways and be forgiven. The story Desmond and the Very Mean World also tells us that reconciliation and forgiveness is a good thing. When Christians need to say sorry to God they confess and repent. Reconciliation means making up and forgiving. Sacrifice is when you love someone so much you give up your life to help them. Ukraine an Russia have similar crosses.
Islam	They only worship their God called Allah. They fast for a month. When they hear Adhan which is a special song used to call people to prayer, they know they must go and pray. When calling people to pray to Allah they say Allah is the greatest , come to prayer and come to salvation. Muslims lay their prayer mats down to face Mecca. Muslims pray in a clean space and wash their hands, feet, arms and mouth before they pray. Muslims stop what they are doing and prayer five times a day. Muslims take their shoes off before they go into the Mosque. They say 'Bismillah' before they start anything and they have five different positions of prayer. They don't have any pictures of people or animals in the Mosque because they only worship Allah.
Hindu Dharma	Hindus believe they can be reborn again. Most Hindus are vegetarians. The moral of the story The Mice and the Elephant is to always make friends no matter how strong or weak. The moral of the story A Foolish Fox is never be over confident of yourself. The Moral of the story The Jackal and the drum is greed is always harmful.
Sikhi
Humanism

Year 5 

Christianity	Jesus was the saviour of the world. Jesus calmed the storm. Jesus healed a man with Leprosy. Jesus fed 5000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus was crucified on a cross. Gospel means good news. Faith is when you have trust in someone and you believe in them. Faith links to hope, dependence, trust and belief. The story of David and Goliath told us that David prayed, no one believed in David, he was a shepherd, David trusted in God, David was a brave volunteer and David defeated Goliath with a rock. David found courage and his faith to fight the giant Goliath. David had faith and wasn't scared to fight. Songs and stories help me remember God.
Islam	The Qu-ran is a special book with messages. The stories in the Qu'ran  tell you about Allah and the decisions that he has made. It is a bit like a Gospel. The Qu'ran is extremely precious. Allah is the creator of the world. The Qu'ran reveals how to live a good life. The Qu'ran says how Muslims should treat people and how they should look after people.
Hindu Dharma
Buddhism

Year 6 

Christianity	They have one God. God loves all Christians.
Hindu Dharma	There is one God called Braham Murtis Hindus have a shrine at home. They have Raskshan bracelets for siblings. They are mostly vegetarians and don't eat beef. An elephant is a sacred animal. Ganesha is the Hindu God of distraction. Krishna is the eighth God of the God Vishnu. Krishna is the God of love and tenderness and compassion.
Islam	Muslims special book is called the Qu'ran. They pray five times a day towards Mecca, They celebrate Ramadan.
Humanism

RE Days

Remembrance Day

During Remembrance Day, the children created poppies in lots of different ways using a range of materials and some classes in KS2 wrote prayers. They thought about the meaning of the poppy and what it represents. Creating the poppies allowed the children to reflect on how remembering the soldiers who died fighting for their country links to the school values of Respect, Community and Compassion, and how it helps them to be more like Jesus.

By creating poppies, the children showed respect for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for others and learned the importance of honouring and remembering people from the past. The Remembrance Day activities also encouraged the children to develop compassion by thinking about the sadness and loss experienced by families during times of war. Through these activities, the children learned the importance of kindness, empathy, and caring for others in their own community.

    

                 

Christmas

At Christmas the each class made sheep for a display in the local church.

Vesak Day 

In May, the children enjoyed a special Faith Day celebrating Vesak, an important Buddhist festival which marks the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. Throughout the day, the children took part in a range of creative and reflective activities which helped them deepen their understanding of Buddhism while making meaningful links to our own school values.

The children learned about “Bathing the Buddha”, a traditional ceremony where water is poured over a small statue of the Buddha to symbolise washing away unkind thoughts and making a fresh start with kindness and compassion. This encouraged thoughtful discussion about how we can all show kindness to others in our daily lives.

As part of their learning, the children created beautiful lotus flowers and lanterns, symbols often seen in Buddhist homes and temples to represent light, wisdom and peace. They also designed their own Buddhist flags, learning about the meaning behind the six coloured stripes and why these flags are displayed during Buddhist celebrations around the world.

To help connect their learning to everyday life, the children reflected on acts of kindness and drew pictures showing good deeds they could carry out within school, at home and in the wider community. This activity helped strengthen their understanding of compassion, linking closely to our school Christian values of respect, community and compassion.

The day provided a valuable opportunity for the children to learn about another faith and culture in an engaging and meaningful way. Through discussion, creativity and reflection, the children developed greater respect for the beliefs of others and deepened their understanding of how shared values can unite different faiths and communities.

Holi Day

This term, the children enjoyed learning about Holi, the Hindu spring festival that celebrates spring, love, and new life. Holi is celebrated in honour of the Hindu god Krishna and is often known as the Festival of Colours.

As part of their learning, the children designed colourful T-shirts to represent the throwing of coloured powder and paint during Holi celebrations. They also created posters and wrote sentences about what they had discovered. The children learnt that Holi is celebrated in March and that it is a special time for repairing relationships, strengthening friendships, and enjoying time with family and the wider community. These themes linked closely to our school values of respect and community.

The children also explored the story of Prahlad and his devotion, making thoughtful links to how Christians show devotion to Jesus and strive to follow his example. They reflected on how festivals such as Holi bring people together, creating joy, unity, and a strong sense of community.