The RE curriculum at Enderby Road Infant School is implemented in accordance with the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus, ensuring that our teaching reflects both the local and national expectations for religious education. It is delivered on a weekly basis, with lessons designed to be engaging and age-appropriate for young children. We use a range of teaching methods. For example, as a school we strive to provide real life, inspirational experiences for all of our pupils, across a range of foundation subjects. In RE, such experiences include: a visit to a place of worship; a classroom experience of places of worship, where we have resources to promote this. During this experience, we want to make it as real as possible so the children are given an opportunity to participate in some practices of that religion (as appropriate) if they choose to do so. An example of this, would be washing their hands before entering a mosque. Another important teaching method is through storytelling and role play. The children listen to a variety of parables throughout the year and explore their thoughts and the meaning behind them. There are also lots of opportunities for creative and hands-on activities such as arts and crafts!
The children’s thoughts, ideas, and responses can be carefully recorded in their topic books, but most of our recording is logged in RE floorbooks which serve as a reflective tool for both teachers and students. This provides an opportunity for the children to track their learning and engage in ongoing reflection about their developing understanding of religious concepts and practices. One of our school drivers is oracy, so we aim to discuss thoughts, feelings and ideas throughout RE. We include lots of retrieval practice throughout the learning process, where pupils can share their previous learning and experiences to recap key information and truly begin to build upon, and deepen their understanding of their beliefs and taught religions.