Our Intent 

Through the teaching of Religious Education at Thornton Dale, children develop a deep understanding of the theology underpinning religious beliefs and the way in which these beliefs are lived out in reality.

Religious Education is taught through 'Religious Education Weeks' every half term, which fully immerse the children in learning about a particular religion or concept. Each Religious Education Week has its own planting the seed and harvesting the learning in line with our Learning Cycle approach. Learning is made real and meaningful by inviting visitors from various beliefs and taking part in trips to experience different religions and places of worship. At Thornton Dale we also have strong links to our local church, Reverend Sally and Reverend Joe. We aim to: 

• To inspire and challenge our children, through a safe and happy learning environment, to achieve excellent standards including all aspects of the NYCC agreed syllabus and Understanding Christianity for Religious Education
• To engage and excite our children about Religious Education through real, relevant and purposeful learning
• To equip our children with a deep understanding of the theology underpinning religious beliefs and the ways in which these beliefs are lived out in reality
• To equip our children with knowledge and skills in order to be reflective, seeing varying world views and values through their own eyes
• To inspire a passion for learning so that children develop critical thinking skills and higher order questioning when considering meaning, purpose and truth
• To ensure our children are open minded, accepting and wondrous about world-wide beliefs, further instilling these values in others and our community
• To enable our children to articulate their learning confidently and to remember knowledge and vocabulary
• To prepare and inspire our children for further learning in Religious Education in secondary school and beyond

Our Implementation

• In EYFS RE is taught through developing the children’s understanding on different religious beliefs around the world. Children In EYFS think about special people and places and develop their understanding on how special people help them. Key bible stories are used throughout the teaching of RE. EYFS children are also encouraged to talk about their own experiences both past and present
• R.E is taught through 'RE weeks' at the beginning and end of every of every term, which fully immerses the children in learning about a particular religion or concept
• R.E lessons include whole class focus tasks which are  linked to the NYCC objectives and Understanding Christianity Units. The children may have a choice of additional activities to further learning, practise retrieval and apply their knowledge to different contexts
• The Believing, Expressing, Living approach, is a creative and innovative sequential approach to R.E. Believing- learning the theology behind various world views and how their beliefs are practised. Expressing- Explore how a religion is expressed. Thus developing their spiritual and moral development. Living - Pupils have the opportunity see how values impact on people's everyday lives and how they respond and put their beliefs into action. Our RE lessons are designed to promote our core values and changing attitudes of others through action in line with our school vision
• The children's learning is real and meaningful by inviting visitors from various beliefs and trips to experience different religions and places of worship
• RE books that are high quality and show a range of evidence which builds from year to year
• RE books reflect our school values –Kindness, friendship and respect and values celebrated within different religions
• Knowledge organisers are used to ensure key knowledge and vocabulary is introduced. Teachers ensure that knowledge organisers build on previous learning and that pupils remember their learning

Our Impact 

• Pupils have a deep knowledge about people from different backgrounds and environments and are open minded, accepting and wondrous about world-wide beliefs, further instilling these values in others and our community
• Pupils can access and follow an ambitious curriculum that has our vision for exceptionally high expectations as a driver
• Thoughtfully planned religious education (RE) lessons engage pupils in comparing challenging current issues
• Standards in books and assessment outcomes are very strong

Regular monitoring is undertaken by our Religious Education Lead (Hannah James) 

Our 2023-2024 RE Long Term Plan is as follows: