Why do we learn Religious Education?
We believe that a strong Religion and Worldviews education provokes challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
Our approach
The Religious Education curriculum at Atwood aims to enable each pupil to understand, reflect upon and develop their own personal worldview. We aim to encourage children’s curiosity about the world and develop their critical thinking skills by using the key concept of worldviews. Worldviews are different ways of understanding the world. By exploring how worldviews are formed, change over time and are expressed at both individual and communal levels, pupils will reflect upon and refine their own worldview as well as those of others, thus enabling them to appreciate the diversity of thought while independently forming their own.
The curriculum will borrow from the following disciplines and in doing so will intertwine with the PSHE and Humanities curricula at Atwood.
- Theology Pupils will engage with ways in which human beings experience and interact with faith, God and religion. They will explore key ideas, cultural practices, similarities and differences associated with major world religions. They will also explore non-religious worldviews such as Atheism, Secularism and Humanism.
- Philosophy Pupils will explore the ways in which different worldviews, both religious and non-religious, attempt to understand the world, human existence, morality and ethics.
- Sociology Pupils will explore how religious and non-religious worldviews interact with society and identities, create social relationships and impact culture and politics.
Links to the local context are forged through trips to places of religious significance and sharing experiences and perspectives from the parent and local community.
Reception
| Autumn |
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All About Me and People Who Help Us Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps (their own religious or non-religious identities and traditions) Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society (importance of religious leaders and spaces) Celebrations: Diwali, Christmas, Hannukah |
| Spring |
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Fantasy and Traditional Tales Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class. (links to tales from different religions) Celebrations: Baisakhi, Easter, Holi |
| Summer |
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Dinosaurs and Animals Celebrations: Eid, Wesak |
Year 1
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| What are the different ideas about how our world was created? | Why do Christians give gifts at Christmas? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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| What books are special to different religious worldviews? | What can we learn from Christianity? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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| What do Hindus celebrate? | What do Muslims celebrate? |
Year 2
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| Why are religious leaders important and what do they teach us? | What do Christians celebrate? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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| Who was Buddha and what can we learn from his teachings? | What can we learn from the Torah? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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| What are the Christian rites of passage? | What do Sikhs believe in? |
Year 3
| Autumn |
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| What do religious worldviews have in common? |
| Spring |
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| How do religious worldviews interact with music? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| What are the difference and similarities between religious beliefs in God? | Howdo worldviews explain the origin of life? |
Year 4
| Autumn |
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What do religious worldviews have in common? |
| Spring |
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| How do religious worldviews interact with art? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How is my personal worldview different and similar to other worldviews? | How do worldviews explain life and death? |
Year 5
| Autumn |
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| How do religious worldviews spread? |
| Spring |
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| What makes a religious world-view powerful? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Howareour identities shaped by institutional (religious and non-religious) world-views? | How do religious and non-religious worldviews interact with social issues? |
Year 6
| Autumn |
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| How have religious worldviews changed over time? |
| Spring |
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| What makes a religious world-view powerful? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How do religious and non-religious worldviews understand morality? | How do religious and non-religuous worldviews interact with social issues? |