Intent

• To allow all children to learn about, question and experience different faiths beyond their own experiences.
• To be broad and balanced.  Focus on Christianity, Islam and Sikhism in Rec and KS1.
• To experience places of worship, either through face to face experience (in development) or through the use of ICT.
• To develop a culture of respect, sensitivity and wonder from an early age to equip pupils to engage with others of different faiths as part of life in Modern Britain.
• To ensure children have secured key knowledge of the stories, practices, artefacts and holy places of the key religions covered to prepare them for more in-depth learning in KS2.

Implementation

• Focus on 3 major world religions – Christianity, Islam and Sikhism.  Although many of the pupils at Palfrey come from a Muslim background, they do not demonstrate a strong knowledge base of Islam beyond their strong identity as a Muslim and that some of them worship at a Mosque.  Therefore it was appropriate to keep Islam in the curriculum alongside 2 other religions.
• A range of approaches towards teaching RE in an engaging and creative way e.g drama, art, discussion, research, ICT, alongside occasional low-stakes written activities.
• Following Excellence in RE course (2018), more of a focus on creativity/creative responses in RE have been developed.  This has led to a higher number of discussion and responsive activities.
• Evidence of learning is in scrapbook style “big books” which were introduced in Nursery and Reception in 2018-2019.  These books should follow classes through the school to be used for discussion and to recap/build on prior learning.
• Planning follows an adapted version of the Walsall Agreed Syllabus. At Palfrey we go above and beyond the minimum requirements set out by the local syllabus in order to give pupils a rich curriculum and a strong knowledge base.

Impact

• The majority of pupils achieve end of KS1 standards by end of Y2.
• Pupils show interest and enjoyment of RE and a desire to learn more.
• Staff who teach RE show enthusiasm and interest in the subject and regularly have informal discussion about how to further RE at Palfrey.