Religious Education
The Lincoln Diocesan Board of Education understands the driving purpose of RE in schools and academies to be the development of secure religious and theological literacy so that our pupils are able to hold informed and balanced conversations about religions and beliefs.
The children will be learn about Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.
At Tattershall Primary School, we are required to follow the Lincolnshire locally agreed syllabus for Religious Education (2018-2022). This syllabus aims to help children and young people develop their religious knowledge so that they can make connections between different worldviews and religious beliefs, avoid stereotyping and contribute to society as informed, tolerant individuals.
Intent
Tattershall Primary School intends to make Religious Education lessons engaging and fun with creative learning and cross-curricular activities. Our broad and cohesively planned curriculum aims to encourage our children to develop an assured level of religious knowledge and understanding so that they can be accepting and respectful of other religions and worldviews.
Implementation
Our RE curriculum is strongly connected through many ‘golden threads’ and the concepts of believing, living and thinking. Key areas of learning are revisited frequently and links are made within and between topics, religions, worldviews and denominations.
RE is taught directly with one-hour weekly lessons. Religious Education is a statutory subject of the curriculum for all pupils in each year group, including the Early Years Foundation Stage. All children will receive RE lessons in school unless parents/carers formally withdraw their own children.
In the Early Years, children are taught RE indirectly as and when different religious festivals and celebrations occur. These lessons are interwoven into the curriculum, so they are relatable and relevant to the children as they happen throughout the year.
At Tattershall Primary School, we have used the Lincolnshire locally agreed syllabus to develop a spiral and sequential curriculum that ensures a clear progression of skills for each year group. This is to help children build on and develop their knowledge each year. We are required to teach the children about Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, alongside a range of other religions and worldviews. To support children with their ‘sticky knowledge’, there are frequent chances to review their learning at the end of every unit.
Enrichment opportunities are used to support children’s learning in Religious Education as well as build relationships within the wider community. For example, we have visited the local church and mosque.
Impact
Through our engaging and broad RE curriculum, children at Tattershall Primary school will be curious, knowledgeable and happy lifelong learners. They will grow into young adults, who challenge racism and religious prejudice; promote religious diversity and create a community filled with love and kindness. As a school family, we are enthusiastic about cultivating a strong and inclusive community that works together to support those in need.
Islamic Centre
Class 2 and 3 visited the Islamic Centre in Sleaford to support their RE learning about Islam this term.
Budhist Beliefs
In Class 6, we have been learning about a new religion with different beliefs. We took advantage of the lovely weather and did our learning outside. We had to hunt for information about Buddhist Beliefs to complete a table of information in our learning books.
“Buddhism is different to the other religions we have learned about because they don’t believe in a God or deity whatsoever.” – Kai
“Buddhism is similar to Hinduism because they both have Dharma but it has a different meaning also in Humanism they don’t believe in a God like in Buddhism."– Mason
Mock Baptism
In Class 2, we learned about why Christians have a Baptism and watched what happens during an Infant Baptism. We labelled the people involved in a Baptism and talked about what they do during the service.
“When you are a baby and you have a Baptism, you’ll have water poured on your head three times. When you’re an adult, you get baptised in a river/pool and your whole body goes under the water.” – Layla
“Adults are baptised to wash away their sins and start a new life as a Christian.” – Millie
Diwali celebrations!
In Class 4, we have been learning about how Hindus celebrate Diwali. We enjoyed our own Diwali celebration: making Diwa lamps out of clay, designing Rangoli patterns using soft pastels and painting Mendhi (henna) designs. We even used chocolate writing icing to replicate using tubes of henna to draw on our own hands.
“Hindus put Rangoli patterns on the mat outside their front door to attract good fortune.” – Harry
“Hindus need to tidy their house before they celebrate Diwali.” – Hope
“Hindus draw henna tattoos on their hands for the celebration of Diwali.” – Oliver and Henry.
The Story of Rama and Sita
In Class 4, we have been learning about the story of Rama and Sita. We listened the to story a few times before acting it out in small groups. We each had a puppet to hold as we retold the story.
“Sita was kidnapped by the evil Ravanna.” – George
“Rama shot a magic arrow at the evil Ravanna to rescue poor Sita.” – Theo
“This story symbolises how light can win over darkness and good triumphs over bad.” – Emily.
Sukkahs
In Class 2, we have been learning about the Jewish festival Sukkot. During Sukkot, Jews build Sukkahs to live in to remember the time when their ancestors travelled through the desert towards the Promised Land. We went around the school grounds to collect our natural materials to decorate our own Sukkahs.
“They always have holes on the roof so God can watch over them inside the Sukkah.” – Freddie.
“Sukkahs are made of wood and rocks because that’s all they had to build their Sukkahs in the old days.” – Madeleine.
Torah Scrolls
In Class 3, we have been learning about Judaism. We learned that the Jewish holy book is called a Torah so we created our own Torah scrolls and tried writing our name in Hebrew using paint brushes instead of pen.
“It was really fun making my own Torah scroll and I got to take it home.“ - Tilly.
“We learned that Jews write backwards in Hebrew.“ – Oliver
