Intent
Religious Education (RE) lessons will enable pupils to extend their knowledge and understanding of religion and belief diversity in the local, national and global landscape. Pupils will develop and use religious vocabulary correctly and will interpret religious symbolism in a variety of forms. Pupils will be ‘religiously literate’, they will understand what ‘believing’, ‘thinking’ and ‘living’ entails for religious believers. In Religious Education lessons, pupils will also grapple with ultimate questions and reflect on questions of meaning, offering their own thoughtful and informed insights into religious and secular world-views.
Whilst we strongly believe that learning about other religions is a pivotal step in developing an inclusive community, parents/carers are able to withdraw their child from any/all RE lessons. In order to do this, contact with the headteacher via info@riversdale.wandsworth.sch.uk must be made and a meeting scheduled to discuss the RE provision.
Implementation
The RE curriculum at Riversdale is based on the Wandsworth Locally Agreed Syllabus, as well as Development Matters in EYFS. In Early Years, children develop a foundational understanding that different people have different beliefs, and that this is what makes us special and unique. This is taught through themes such as 'Me and My Community' and 'Light & Dark' and children are immersed in key texts that initiate pupil engagement and interest in the study of these. Additionally, pupils are introduced to key vocabulary that will be built upon in Key Stages 1 and 2.
In Key Stage 1 and 2, children learn about specific religious beliefs through enquiry questions such as "What is a Hindu’s dharma?" as well as using religious belief to explore larger moral questions such as "What is Justice?". This provides pupils with a tangible answer by the end of each lesson, giving a context to the learning which builds over time to answer a larger question around a topic or theme. As they progress through the key stages, pupils build on their understanding and knowledge of different religious and non-religious perspectives, exploring similarities and differences.
SMSC, personal growth, wellbeing and community cohesion are embedded throughout each unit of learning. Through the concepts of 'believing', 'thinking' and 'living' pupils are provided with opportunities to develop positive attitudes and values and to reflect on and relate their learning in RE to their own experiences. The intent is to make sure that children understand the relevance of RE in today's modern world.
Curriculum Progression
At Riversdale Primary School we believe in the importance of all children developing a deep understanding of religious education and in embedding the substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills into their long-term memory. As such, the progression of RE has been carefully mapped, with a consideration to connected subject matter and opportunities to revisit specific concepts over time.
You can find a copy of the 2024-25 RE Progression Document here.
Lesson Delivery
Pupils will undertake a RE lesson once a week. In each lesson, the children have carefully selected knowledge that they will learn, in conjunction with developing and consolidating specific disciplinary skills. For example, when exploring the concept of marriage in Year 5, pupils will discuss the varying religious viewpoints around getting married, looking at how they compare and contrast, as well as atheist and humanist perspectives. This provides pupils with a broad and balanced approach to learning about and from religion and belief.
Pupils are provided with a Knowledge Organiser that:
You can find the 2024-25 Autumn 2 Term Knowledge Organisers for RE below:
Curriculum Policies
Please find our RE policy below:
Here's a quick link to some useful information for parents and carers, including home learning apps and the school's communication app.
Find out more
Enter your post code into the box below and we’ll provide you with a list of directions to our school.
