RE

Osmotherley Primary School RE Curriculum  

RE explores big questions about life in order to find out what people believe or what difference this makes to how they live. 

(NY Locally Agreed Syllabus) 

Intent   

At Osmotherley Primary School, we strive to provide a high-quality knowledge rich RE education, equipping our children with the knowledge and skills to develop a sense of place and to encourage a curiosity, understanding and tolerance of different world faiths. We encourage our pupils to develop an understanding of religions and world views. We aim to build an understanding of how RE provokes challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. 

RE at Osmotherley School will be taught using the North Yorkshire Locally Agreed Syllabus 2019-2024), in Reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  There is no digital version of the Locally Agreed Syllabus, but a printed copy is available at school.  Reception children will also explore RE through the Early Years Framework. 

The children will learn about the main world religions and world views. In Reception, Children will explore different cultures and beliefs through stories and exploration.  They will start to think about their own beliefs and what happens in their own community.  In Key Stage One, the children will look at Christianity and Islam, beginning to ask questions and understand what it means to be a Christian and a Muslim.  They will explore other beliefs and religions through celebrations and stories. In Key Stage 2, children develop knowledge of world religions and non-religious groups. They become familiar with the beliefs of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Humanists.  Throughout their time at Osmotherley RE will be approached through using Key Questions and key concepts are revisited over time encouraging deeper understanding of the aspects being taught.  In Key Stage One the three strands the curriculum will focus on are living, believing and expressing, in Key Stage Two these will be developed further by having knowledge and understanding of world religions, developing skills to respond to worldviews using personal ideas and opinions and able to express ideas and insights about significance of world religions and views. 

We recognise that, as a rural school in North Yorkshire, opportunities to learn about different religions first hand or visit places of worship from different faiths are limited so we will provide opportunities to visit a Hindu temple in Middlesbrough in addition to visits to city synagogues, mosques and cathedrals in Upper Key Stage 2 on the residential trip to Liverpool. We celebrate diversity at Osmotherley School through literature, discussion and debate. 

There is a clear progression in the skills and knowledge taught throughout the school and deliberate practice allows children to improve fluency, leading to mastery and an alteration to their long-term memory, preparing them well for the next steps in their learning.