RE curriculum statement
Our school vision
The Lord says, ‘I will instruct you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye
on you.’ Psalm 32:8
We live our vision with three dynamics at the heart: Living, Learning & Flourishing together.
We live as role models and advocate good choices
We learn in all we do with a loving eye upon us
We flourish in the way we go, within school and into the world beyond
Our five Core Values are: Kindness – Koinonia – Compassion – Responsibility – Forgiveness
Through a positive, caring environment, we provide the opportunity for every child to reach
their full potential. We embrace Christian values and ensure all children are ready for their
next steps. This statement sets out how we do this in RE.
INTENT
At Great Massingham and Harpley Church of England Primary Schools Federation, we view RE as
a core subject. RE forms at least 6% of our weekly curriculum teaching. As part of an effective
RE education, RE is led by the Headteacher. RE has a high profile within the curriculum and is a
priority for the SLT. The Headteacher keeps up to date with developments and supports the
pedagogy underpinning the whole curriculum, feeding into RE. This means the Headteacher and
all staff who teach RE are involved in the development of this subject, building coherence,
consistency and sustainability. The Headteacher and RE teachers recently undertook
‘Understanding Christianity’ training in order to ensure that we further engage with biblical
text and theological ideas. The RE subject leader received Diocese training on the Norfolk
Agreed Syllabus in 2019.
LEARN: The Headteacher ensures that the syllabus for RE teaches a deep knowledge and
understanding of Christian belief, teaches a range of religions and worldviews and captivates
and engages children in their learning. Children LIVE RE by following an enquiry-based question
to deepen their knowledge and understanding. The enquiry goes through five stages: engage,
enquire, explore, evaluate and express. Each class enquiry is documented in a floor book,
allowing pupils to develop deeper thinking skills and respond to learning in creative ways. Pupils
ask and answer big life questions, talk with interest about religion and worldviews and are
motivated to develop their knowledge and understanding.
It is of paramount importance that we seek to engage all of our children in the teaching and
learning of RE and that we support our children to FLOURISH in the next stages of their
learning.
IMPLEMENT
Effective provision is in place to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities
(SEND) ensuring equality of access and flourishing. This may involve additional small targeted
support, nurture groups and at times re-structuring the learning environment. Pupils talk with
interest about religion and worldviews. They are motivated to develop their knowledge and
understanding. The school follows the locally agreed syllabus for Norfolk. The school has
worked with the Diocese of Norwich on planning. Resourcing for RE and training of staff to
share new ideas and pedagogy is developing. There are regular opportunities for pupils to
experience deep thinking and discussion about big life questions. The opportunity to respond
creatively and imaginatively through enquiry led learning has resulted in links between RE,
spirituality and other curriculum areas being made.
Teacher’s mainly plan for RE using resources provided by the Diocese of Norwich. They also use
Understanding Christianity and other materials from organisations such as SACRE and RE
online.
IMPACT
Through formative and summative assessment, we continuously monitor pupils’ progress. At the
end of each RE unit, teachers will assess pupils against AREs written by the Diocese of Norwich.
These are recorded on assessment grids which have been written by the Head Teacher and
approved by the schools Diocese Support Officer as well as the RE adviser at the Diocese of
Norwich.
We will know our RE Curriculum is having the desired impact on our children when:
they can talk enthusiastically about their RE lessons and can articulate the context in
which RE is being taught;
pupils can explain the key vocabulary and use it appropriately in lessons;
termly assessments show children make good progress in RE;
through RE, we apply higher-level skills, such as enquiry, analysis, interpretation,
evaluation and reflection to deepen our understanding of knowledge and the impact of
religion on the world leading to high attainment.