R.E Department - Overarching Curriculum Intent (September 2023) 

 

RFSS Curriculum Vision Statement:

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To build an inclusive curriculum which is aspirational for all and empowers our students to make outstanding academic and personal progress.  

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Religious Education Curriculum in Context: 

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‘When you understand religion, you see the world in full technicolor. All works of Art, literature, paintings, poems, films and books trace their origins to religious stories’ 

Nikki McGee – Curriculum Conversations.

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The teaching of R.E is going through a metamorphosis, with a sharper focus on supporting our students in developing their own worldview and in turn understanding the world view of others. Throughout their curriculum journey, we aim to provide opportunities for our students to reflect on the lens through which they view the world around them, allowing our students to explore questions of spirituality, identity, ethics, discrimination and prejudice. We will enable pupils to develop religious literacy and an understanding of what it means to be a person of faith or no faith. We will encourage pupils to engage critically with ideas and experience of religion, belief and spirituality and in turn understand their own personal worldview.  This will be achieved by building the KS3 curriculum around our Coventry and Warwickshire agreed Syllabus but also by reflecting on the needs, experiences of our school community. Our enquiry questions will allow students to examine key themes such as changes, belonging and believing, authority and power, personal responsibility and grand narratives. We aim to help students in appreciating and respecting what it means to belong to a faith community in 21st century, by examining topics like Sikhism in the Community, exploring how the Sikh community actively promotes charity and generosity to all, as reflected in their community efforts during the cost of living crisis and Covid Pandemic.  At KS3, our curriculum will explore religions thematically to enable students to explore links and trace the key thinkers, events that have shaped the direction of religious belief, philosophy and ethical debate. 

 

Curriculum Aims: 

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Our curriculum aims to: 

 

• Develop confident young people who have a secure knowledge and understanding of their individual worldview and that of others. 

• Enable the students to engage with religious, philosophical and ethical texts that allow them to appreciate and explore how people and texts may influence belief and lived expression in diverse ways 

• Foster the ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using evidence derived from a range of sources. 

• Empower our students to respect, reflect, debate, discuss religious, philosophical and ethical issues and beliefs. 

 

We do this by: 

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  • By creating a multi-disciplinary Religious Education curriculum that allows our students to explore themes around Theology, Philosophy and Human and Social Sciences.  

  • Building opportunities for our students to engage with spiritual, academic texts and art to foster curiosity but also support in our understanding of how ideas and belief are both shaped and expressed.  

  • Building a sequenced curriculum which presents opportunities for our students to engage with the disciplinary knowledge and concepts that underpin our subject; changes, belonging and believing, authority and power, personal responsibility and grand narratives 

  • Following the guidance provided by the Coventry and Warwickshire SACRE and the context of our school community, we have selected key themes around some of the six major world religions but our exploration will be conducted thematically

 

​Curriculum Outcome: 

   

​Our curriculum is focused on the development of communication, character and cultural capital of each individual student. 

 

The study of Religious Education is important because it will allow our pupils to: 

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• Respect others and gain a broader understanding of views and beliefs.  

• Will enable our students to consider their own worldview and the factors that shape it 

• To appreciate and respect the influence of religions and beliefs on individuals, culture, behaviour and national / international life.  

• Improve their knowledge of global affairs 

• Develop a stronger sense of wellbeing, ethical standards and personal happiness 

• Avoid extremism and religious discrimination 

• Contribute to and build a more cohesive community 

 

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