RE
Intent
We aim for every child to leave Springwood Junior Academy with an understanding, acceptance and respect for all families in our community and the wider world.
RE lessons aim to equip all pupils with a deep knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and world views. This teaches pupils how to be open-minded and accepting of other people’s faiths and backgrounds. RE lessons are intellectually challenging – pupils are encouraged to ask and answer thought-provoking questions. Each lesson encourages open discussions and teaches our pupils the importance of mutual respect. RE at Springwood allows pupils to investigate, develop, and reinforce their own religion and values while also fostering an understanding for others' faiths and beliefs.
Implementation
Foundation Stage pupils (FS0, FS1 and FS2) explore RE as part of ‘Understanding the World’, which is a strand of the EYFS curriculum. These lessons encourage curiosity by utilising discussion, creative activities and a range of interesting artefacts. This enables pupils to be effective communicators – sharing their ideas and asking questions to further their understanding. They are supported to make connections between the features of their family and other families; develop positive attitudes about the differences between people; understand that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways; and much more. Pupils also have the opportunity to apply and deepen their knowledge within the continuous provision, which is often themed around religious festivals and celebrations.
The ACET RE curriculum is taught throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, which incorporates the requirements of the Derbyshire, Rotherham and Sheffield syllabuses. The scheme includes a wealth of ideas and activities for pupils to cover all objectives and reach the assessment criteria. Units within this planning ensure that pupils develop a secure knowledge and understanding of the principal religions in Great Britain. Within the enquiries, pupils learn key facts (including places of worship, key festivals, holy books and much more), read and enjoy stories, conduct research, role-play and relate their own lives and experiences to different religions. Lessons are creative and incorporate both current and historical examples, in addition to exciting people, who are relevant and inspiring for pupils. Pupils are encouraged to share, reflect and question as part of open-ended discussions. Lessons are often cross-curricular, encouraging pupils to apply their Art and Computing skills.
The ACET Long Term Planning below outlines the religions each year group will study and the enquiries they will investigate.
All staff and pupils meet for daily worship. This can be in a variety of forms including class stories and Key Stage or whole school assemblies. The content of our assemblies encourages a positive ethos of tolerance, caring and understanding for all. Assemblies are used to reinforce and develop school standards and values. Every half-term, pupils take part in Open the Book assemblies. Open the Book offers pupils the opportunity to hear key Bible stories told by a team of Christians from local churches, who present and perform the stories during assemblies.
Impact
Pupils at Springwood Junior Academy enjoy learning about a wide variety of different religions and cultures. They apply this knowledge by making links between these, identifying similarities and differences. The religious context of our academy is broadening and we are very proud of the diversity amongst our pupils. The pupils at Springwood show a keen interest in the different backgrounds of others and are eager to find out more. Through their Religious Education learning, pupils are able to make links between their own lives, those of others in the community and in the wider world. Our pupils develop an understanding of other peoples' cultures and ways of life and are able to talk confidently about what they, and others, believe. All pupils show high levels of self-awareness, respect and empathy, becoming well-rounded citizens.
RE @ Springwood Junior Academy
R.E Events
Each year, we learn about different religious and cultural festivals and celebrations. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these events, pupils take part in whole-school assemblies, a range of creative activities and themed days/weeks. Pupils also have the opportunity to develop their knowledge of different cultures through dance workshops. Some of the festivals we celebrate include Diwali, Chinese New Year, Christmas, Ramadan, Eid, Easter and World Religion Day.
We also arrange for our pupils to visit different places of worship and invite visitors into the academy to talk about their own experiences and beliefs. We have a positive partnership with the local church and often attend services there, including celebrating Easter and Christmas.
Useful Websites
RE is provided for all pupils, and is inclusive and broad minded. Parents do have the right to withdraw pupils from RE: if you wish to do this, please make an appointment with the Principal / RE subject leader.