Religious Education at Westlands

Intent

At Westlands we recognise that teaching R.E. makes a significant contribution to pupils’ academic and personal development. It also plays a key role in promoting social cohesion and the virtues of respect and empathy, which are important in our diverse society. 

By following Jigsaw RE at Westlands we intend that Religious Education will:- 

  • adopt an enquiry- based approach as recommended by Ofsted, beginning with the children’s own life experience before moving into learning about and from religion. 
  • provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, and issues of right and wrong, commitment and belonging. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, and religious traditions that examine these questions, fostering personal reflection and spiritual development. 
  • encourage pupils to explore their own beliefs (religious or non-religious), in the light of what they learn, as they examine issues of religious belief and faith and how these impact on personal, institutional and social ethics; and to express their responses.  
  • enable pupils to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society. 
  • teach pupils to develop respect for others, including people with different faiths and beliefs, and helps to challenge prejudice. 
  • prompt pupils to consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others, and to explore how they might contribute to their communities and to wider society. It encourages empathy, generosity and compassion. 
  • develop a sense of awe, wonder and mystery. 
  • nurture children’s own spiritual development. 

religious education

Implementation

At Westlands we follow Jigsaw RE Scheme of Work to meet the requirements of our locally agreed syllabus. We have strong links with our local church who visit us each week to deliver an assembly. They are also a key part of our community at certain points throughout the year such as Christmas and Harvest. 

For further details of this, please refer to individual year group’s long term plans and curriculum information sent out by teachers.  

Impact

Our R.E Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

* Pupil and teacher evaluation of the content and learning processes 

*Staff meetings to review and share experience 

*Monitoring of assessment to ensure progression throughout the school.