Welcome to Religious Education

The Religious Education curriculum aims to inspire students to become theologians and philosophers who can make critical and balanced judgements about questions of meaning and purpose through developing religious literacy in terms of vocabulary and conceptual understanding. Through a knowledge rich curriculum, pupils acquire an in depth understanding of the core vocabulary and theological beliefs of the six major world religions and how these beliefs influence religious believers in their daily practice. Comparisons of these six faiths allows for frequent retrieval and for knowledge to be embedded before students explore how these faiths, along with secular views, respond to philosophical issues and how they make ethical decisions. This provides students with the theological, philosophical and ethical knowledge to apply their learning to contemporary issues within modern society in their GCSE’s and hopefully at A level and beyond.

Knowledge-rich

We have designed a curriculum which is of relevance to our context and student body. At the heart of our curriculum is knowledge and information that adds to our students’ cultural capital. The more you know the more you can think about, as you cannot think about that which you do not know. We have decided what the key knowledge is that will enable our students to leave our academy cleverer and kinder, which is shared with our parents in curriculum folders. In Y7 & 8 we explore the six major world faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism). We seek to cover the foundational beliefs held by each of these religious groups, such as: how and why they worship, their beliefs of afterlife, their key founders, their place of worship and their key beliefs. In year 9 we explore philosophical and ethical content that deals with ultimate philosophical questions such as why are we here? What happens when we die? We also explore the changing landscape of religious beliefs and practice in Great Britain. Furthermore, we explore individuals that claim to have no religious beliefs and practise and may describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or humanists. At KS4 students starts the GCSE course where they learn the beliefs and practices held by Christians and Muslims in order to apply these beliefs and teachings to the four themes (Relationships and Families, Religion and Life, Crime and Punishment and Religion, peace and conflict).

Here at EGA we have a whole school approach towards assessing knowledge, which is the first step in our four-part lesson model, the Do Now. Students are presented with five questions which consist of one interleaved question and one challenge question. By using Do Now’s we can assess subject knowledge and ensure that all pupils are on track and are making progress. In addition, we also embed four knowledge check questions at hinge points in the lesson to not only assess knowledge but to also address any misconceptions. We also utilise SMHW quizzes and Think, Pair, Share tasks, cold calling (questioning) and assessment to assess knowledge in RE.

Vocabulary-rich

Our curriculum will be vocabulary rich as closing the advantage gap is about closing vocabulary gaps between word poor and word rich households. We mostly focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary. Tier 2 vocabulary is high frequency/multiple meaning words such as benevolent. Tier 3 vocabulary-low frequency, context-specific vocabulary such as A Posteriori. Our schemes of learning and individual lessons will have set vocabulary which from the foundations of department’s approach to eloquence. Students learn new key terms in every lesson which fits into the whole school initiative to ensure that our students are benefiting from a vocabulary rich curriculum across the board.

Mastery

Our curriculum includes well-planned opportunities to retrieve essential knowledge and master its application. We have intentionally planned our lesson in a way that will allow for 15 minutes of independent writing, which enables them to apply their learning to then become masters in RE. Students are familiar with the fast feedback model that we have implemented here at EGA, in which pupils are given feedback on their work twice per half so that students are aware of how to improve their work. As a part of this feedback process misconceptions are addressed and content may be retaught. After every summative assessment we will use our QLAs to plan our review lessons and revision schemes of work so that knowledge gaps are closed.

Enrichment

We run a debate club as an enrichment programme so that students may explore and develop their talents and character beyond the classroom, which is also a key skill in RE therefore this will enable to students to thrive in the subject. However, to insight further curiosity and enrich their study beyond the classroom we will be going on trips to the places of worships held by the six major world religions. We will also be inviting guest speaker in who can show the students some of their practices in action. For example, Salah (prayer in Islam). The students have learnt about why and how Muslims pray and the process they go through before praying (Wudu), the guest speaker’s role will be to show them how things are done in practice.

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