RE

Summer 2-

WWW:

• Children have enjoyed learning about world religions and sacred texts.
• Children love doing drama, freeze frames and being creative in RE.
• Children love being given the chance to find out answers for themselves. 
• Children love the RE big questions because there is no right or wrong answer and these questions make us think harder.

EBI:

• We could do kahoots as retrieval. 
• We could build the activities we do in other subjects into RE such as quiz, quiz trade.
• We had the chance to read information independently before discussing it as a class. 
• Sometimes mindfulness was built into RE lessons.

 

Summer 1-

WWW:

• Learning lots of new things about the Easter story. Good Friday is the day Jesus was crucified and he then rose on Easter Sunday. 
• Learning about the miracles of Jesus and thinking about what these miracles show and teach us. 
• Acting out Bible stories such as the Good Samaritan and thinking about the message in these parables.
• Presenting our RE work in different ways such as a graffiti wall. This helps us to remember our learning.
• Writing a diary entry to ourselves all about how we would feel if we received a Bible in our own language after this not being available for such a long time.
• Thinking about our life as a journey and mapping out significant events we have experienced so far. 
• Learning that the Bible is like a journey to the future, it paints pictures in our head and helps us to see the difference between good and bad. 

EBI:

• We continued to learn more about Jesus as a person.
• We could do more artwork in RE to present our work and learning. 
• If we could do some Kahoots in RE.
• We can take part in the Spirited Arts competition again this year. 
• We could draw our answers to some of the 'BIG' RE questions as a challenge. 

 

Spring-

RE curriculum champions worked in small groups and completed a questionnaire all about their learning, how they learn and how this learning helps them understand their own place in the world but also other people in the world.

WWW:

• Children enjoy learning about key parts of the Bible such as Jesus’ crucifixion and why Jesus died.
• Children shared that they feel they learn about other religions because this helps them understand that we are all different but should be treated equally and that we should show respect to each other.
• Children said they enjoyed being asked challenging questions in RE and these questions make them think really hard.
• They enjoy learning in different ways in RE such as through art, drama, the use of videos and writing.
• Children enjoy RE. They enjoy learning about their own beliefs and the beliefs and practices of other non-Christian religions.
• Children shared that RE makes them think hard and it helps them to feel closer to God. 

EBI:

• There were more challenging questions where there are no answers but a chance to share their opinions and ideas.
• We could take RE outside sometimes, such as learning in the prayer garden.
• We had the chance to use our computing skills in RE to produce some of our work through things like PowerPoint.

 

Autumn 2-

I went through each unit and pulled out some of the key questions that children should have learnt about and focused on in their RE unit this half term. This told me that:

Willow- Clear understanding of RE vocabulary such as Magi. Could clearly answer the RE questions and explain their answers. Pupils could explain the importance of gifts and how gifts make us feel. They could link this to why Jesus is described as a gift to the world.

Maple- Understood why the birth of Jesus is good news but weren’t sure why this made a difference to the world. Could clearly explain who key people were (Elizabeth and Zechariah). A good understanding of what angels do and what they look like.

Year 2- Excellent understanding of RE vocabulary such as Messiah and were able to give different examples of the meaning of this word. Understood why Mary and Joseph made the journey to Bethlehem and what other people made this journey and why. Pupils could explain why Jesus was born in Bethlehem and how Mary and Joseph’s journey was different from a journey we might take today.

Year 3- Pupils could explain how Christians believe that God is with us and how it feels to be in the presence of God in lots of detail and with specific examples. Pupils struggled to explain how Jesus’ presence impacts people’s lives. Pupils could explain how we show that we are Jesus’ presence in the world today and show this by following our school values and loving and caring for each other. Pupils could clearly explain what incarnation meant.

Year 4- Pupils could explain what the light does to the dark and explained why they thought light was a good metaphor to describe Jesus. They explained Jesus is the light of the world because of the Transfiguration and because he is the Son of God. Pupils found it difficult to explain how the actions of Christians show Jesus’ light in the world today. Pupils knew that the festival of Hannukah was when Jews light candles but couldn’t explain what this festival celebrates.

Year 5- Pupils didn’t clearly explain that the Christmas story is in the Gospels and gave vague answers to where the Christmas story is in the Bible and how it fits into God’s Big Story. Pupils could explain how the Christmas story is similar and different in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but couldn’t explain where the idea of a donkey and a stable come from or what they represent. Pupils said the word incarnation meant that Jesus was born but could clearly explain what salvation meant.

Year 6- Pupils could explain what Advent is a what Christian values are focused on in Advent. They explained when Advent is and why it is a time of preparation. They could explain that Advent is getting prepared for Jesus’ arrival and sharing our blessings and also Jesus’ second coming into the world. Pupils said this unit of Advent has taught them to have faith because anything is possible and to show respect. Pupils clearly explained that a prophet is a messenger from God and gave examples of prophets (Moses, John, Isiah). Pupils explained that incarnation is someone being born in flesh and coming to earth in human form. 

I then gave children a questionnaire which asked the following questions:

What do you think makes All Saints’ a distinctly Christian school and what do we do in school that shows this?

We worship God, we go to church, we pray, we follow Christian Values and have these on our shine cards, we sing songs to God and Jesus, we have RE displays in every room, our school badge says Holy three times, we have British Values, we have daily worship.

Tell me the most interesting thing you have learnt in your RE lesson this year:

• About the birth of Jesus in two different Gospels (Matthew and Luke).
• Why we give and receive presents.
• Learning about Moses.
• Learning about Jesus being born.
• Learning about Christingles.
• Reading different versions of the Christmas story.
• Learning about different religions and the Torah.
• Learning about why cows are special to Hindus.

Do you agree that our values give you an understanding of how to act in a Christian way towards each other?

Yes because Jesus followed those values so we are following Jesus’ path. The values teach us how to be a good Christian. They show us the way God wants us to behave. These are what Jesus would want us to do.

Do you value gathering together for a daily act of worship and going to church for special services? Why?

Yes because we get a chance to speak to God, we honour in Jesus’ name and God is always with us, when we worship we stay close to God and Jesus, we get a chance to learn more stories from the Bible, it helps us to reflect on the bad things we’ve done, it allows us to show our faith in God, it is special because we are learning about Christians and God,

In RE lessons, we learn about our Christian faith and also the faiths and beliefs of others. How do you think this helps you?

It helps us to learn about people in other countries. When we understand what people believe it helps us to interact with them and is helpful. It allows us to compare our religion and other religions. It is interesting to learn about other cultures and what other religions do and how they worship. It helps us learn about different beliefs. It helps us to be respectful and mindful of other people and what they believe.

The Bible tells us that we must care for others at home and across the world. What do you think of the opportunities there are during the year at school to support charitable and good causes?

It teaches us to help people who don’t have money or people who are in need. I think it is good because we get a lot of chances to do this in school and it allows us to care for the whole world. We help people in need by giving them an education when we pay for them to go to school, this makes me feel good. Doing this lets us show kindness and compassion. I like doing this because it is helping other people.

 

Autumn 1-

WWW:

The RE Curriculum Champions shared that they enjoy RE lessons because:

• It makes us feel calm
• We learn about Jesus and His miracles
• We do fun activities, such as artwork linked to our learning
• We learn about the past
• We enjoyed learning about Moses (Y6)
• RE helps people

EBI:

The RE Curriculum Champions shared that they think RE lessons would be even better if:

• RE lessons were longer and retrieval was included in every lesson
• We had full days focussing on an RE topic
• We had knowledge organisers or topic bookmarks to help us remember more
• We did more writing