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Flanshaw Junior, Infant & Nursery School

Flanshaw Junior, Infant & Nursery School

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Religious Education

Religious Education at Flanshaw - Jigsaw RE

At Flanshaw School we follow the Wakefield Locally Agreed Syllabus using Jigsaw RE.

Jigsaw RE is an enquiry-based scheme of work, covering the principal world faiths and humanism in a progressive way from EYFS to Year 6. In the early years, the learning is closely matched to Development Matters to contribute meaningfully to your child’s holistic development. Throughout all the enquiries, the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is carefully considered.

Each enquiry lasts for half a term and begins with a “big” question such as “What is the best way for a Christian/Jew/Muslim etc. to show commitment to God?” The children then start discussing the theme of the enquiry (in this case, commitment) from their own experience. What have they shown commitment to? Brownies? Cubs? Their sporting team? Playing an instrument?

Only when the children fully understand the concept they are considering, do they then move on to investigating what the people following the studied religion or worldview believe about it. They will spend approximately 3 lessons on this, learning in a variety of ways, so they can adapt their responses and come to a measured conclusion. In week 5 they will complete an activity which can assess their learning, by answering their “big” question. The assessment activities are child friendly and can be answered in a variety of ways, as long as the child can justify their view with the knowledge they have gained throughout the enquiry. This demonstrates the level of critical thinking that the children can apply – a valuable skill for them throughout the school curriculum.

The final week in every enquiry gives the children time to reflect on what they have learnt about the concept and apply to it their own lives, thus allowing them to form their own beliefs and identity. For example, learning that Sikhs share their food with all who attend has taught me ……… about sharing that I would like to take forward with me. These lessons are often very creative and children have opportunities to make items to express themselves in ways other than just writing.

Jigsaw RE gives schools a choice of which religions to teach in different year groups. At Flanshaw School we have chosen the following options as we feel these best suit the needs of our children and this also fits with our syllabus.

Religious Education at Flanshaw

At Flanshaw Junior, Infant and Nursey School we follow the Wakefield Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. It is our aim to provide an effective education for our children using the programmes of study set out in the agreed Wakefield Syllabus (2018-2023). The syllabus encourages and enables pupils to explore their own beliefs, values and traditions and those of others in meaningful and engaging ways. The knowledge and skills acquired are set out progressively from Early Years through to Year 6 with key topics being revisited frequently to build upon and secure prior learning. 

Across school, RE is taught on weekly basis by both teachers and HLTA’s whereby there is a 45-minute weekly expectation in Key Stage 1 and an hour weekly expectation in Key Stage 2. The curriculum is led and overseen by the RE lead who continuously monitors and evaluates the teaching of RE across Flanshaw with termly scrutiny’s of planning and workbooks, observations during subject monitoring week and discussions with staff to share good practice and new ideas. Educational visits are expected to occur once in the year for KS1 and at least twice in the year for KS2 to fit in with the topics being taught so children are given first-hand experiences. High quality RE teaching at Flanshaw involves high-quality discussions about real life topics as well as practical hands on creative activities.

Our RE curriculum enables all the children in our school to acquire and develop skills, knowledge, a mutual respect and tolerance of different beliefs and religions. Through religious education, which also goes hand in hand with our PSHE curriculum, we aim to acknowledge our children’s immediate needs and nurture their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness ensuring they grow into valued and responsible adults.

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