Religious Education: Being a Philosopher
Intent
At Ludwell Primary School, our aim of 'Being a Philosopher' is to develop confident and curious learners who are motivated and enthusiastic to explore world issues and develop an understanding of a range of faiths, views and beliefs beyond our local area. Pupils at Ludwell ask questions about and learn from religious beliefs. They appreciate and celebrate the similarities and differences between Christianity and other principal religions through gaining a deep knowledge and understanding of their teaching and practices. Our R.E. curriculum aims to give children the knowledge, understanding, critical thinking skills, open-minded and respectful attitude with which to investigate the world of religion and to prepare them to be able to make their own decisions in the future about what religion means to them.
Our curriculum is knowledge and vocabulary driven and allows children to develop 3 types of knowledge. First, ‘substantive’ knowledge, which is knowledge about various religious and non-religious traditions; second, ‘ways of knowing’, which is where pupils learn ‘how to know’ about religion and non-religion and third, ‘personal knowledge’, where pupils build an awareness of their own presuppositions and values about the religious and non-religious traditions they study. These are carefully planned throughout each unit of learning.
Implementation
- All year groups, including children in the EYFS, learn about Christianity and at least one other principal religion each year. We use ‘Discovery R.E.’ as the basis for our planning thus ensuring we have a coherent curriculum which focuses on deep learning for all and clear progression.
- We follow an enquiry-based model and aim to teach ‘fewer things in greater depth’ to enable learners to have a deeper understanding. We recognize that our children need the opportunity to revisit previously taught objectives throughout the year to ensure they retained their understanding
- Key threads explored are underpinned by key vocabulary and knowledge that will be explicitly taught. The key threads are: