Our Approach to Teaching RE at DLA
We work to the Croydon Agreed Syllabus for RE and recognise the variety of religious and non-religious families from which our pupils come. We welcome and celebrate this diversity, are sensitive to the home background of each child and work to ensure that all pupils feel and are included in our RE programme. We recognise the importance of pupils’ all-round personal development and the leading role that RE plays in contributing to the spiritual, moral social and cultural elements in particular. We affirm the equality of importance of the twin aims of RE as expressed in the agreed syllabus and teach to these in a balanced way, ensuring that the ‘affective’ dimension of RE is addressed.
This Scheme of Work provides a model for teaching and learning in Religious Education from EYFS through to Year 6. The units in Autumn 2 and Spring 1 explore aspects of Christmas and Easter with progression throughout each year group. Whilst it is beneficial to explore these festivals as they occur, there is no requirement to teach units in any particular order in each year group. Teachers may, for example, wish to select material from a range of units to create a block of teaching, or select material from the scheme that fits with a current topic being studied in school.
In Early Years and Key Stage 1 settings, it is suggested that activities use an ethnographic approach to help the children relate stories, celebrations, artefacts and events to particular children in particular faith communities.
If the children can for example, talk about the life of a named Muslim/ Christian/ Jewish/ Sikh/ Hindu/ Buddhist child, then this helps to avoid the confusion that can arise in the children’s minds between different faiths.
The ethnographic approach allows the children to identify with the life of a child who is both the same as them but also has different cultural experiences, faith stories and practices. This can be explored through visits and visitors, pictures or a bag of objects that belong to a child of a particular faith.
[button link=”http://www.davidlivingstone.croydon.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Curriculum-Map-Proforma-2014.15.pdf” type=”icon” icon=”paper” newwindow=”yes”] RE Curriculum Map[/button]