Religious Education at Mount Stewart Federation

At Mount Stewart, we believe that the RE curriculum is taught through asking meaningful and enquiry-based questions which enable pupils to share their own beliefs and values. Further allowing them to build their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of other religions and worldviews by forming a relationship with what they learn. By comparing this learning with their own experiences, they can then consider and reflect meaningfully to create a more informed view of the world and their place in it.  Our curriculum, adhering to the Brent Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, focuses on building upon prior learning and incorporates explicit key skills.  This approach ensures mastery of core skills and promotes the development of social skills and emotional well-being.

Approach and Planning:

The planning of our lessons involves spaced and retrieval practice, interleaving, and elaboration, which are instrumental in creating an environment conducive to nurturing inquisitive investigators and creative collaborators. Throughout each lesson sequence, carefully planned questions are used as a discussion point, enquiry-based thinking is promoted, and provides pupils with opportunities to build their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding by forming a relationship with what they are learning about other religions and worldviews. We ensure that they units studied in Religious Education build upon prior learning and retrieve and reflect on key knowledge, reinforcing the 7R’s learning behaviours. Knowledge notes are also employed to support learning by consolidating key vocabulary and information, ensuring the knowledge becomes ingrained and promoting productivity. At the end of each topic, children independently create detailed classwork to showcase their learning and knowledge recall, allowing them to express their findings creatively and cement their understanding of their place in our world while developing as emotionally well-rounded individuals.

• Planning starts with an enquiry question, through which knowledge, concepts, and learning about a subject, including key vocabulary.
• Planning is delivered through spaced practice, retrieval practice, interleaving, and elaboration.
• The learning sequences for RE follow the Brent Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, ensuring progression from Reception to Year 6.

Teaching Strategies:

• Use of quiz questions/ exit tickets in each lesson.
• Use of knowledge notes to clarify key vocabulary, information, and images.
• End of lesson reflections allow pupils to provide their personal experiences and understanding of the links to religious and non-religious traditions.

Curriculum Intent:

At Mount Stewart, we deliver a broad, balanced, and knowledge-based Religious Education curriculum focused on mastering core skills, social skills, and emotional well-being. Our curriculum aims to provide deep insights into various faiths and what it means to be religious, fostering understanding of the world and promoting respect for diverse beliefs. By teaching RE continuously, we ensure that children build upon their prior learning, enhancing their development as inquisitive investigators and creative collaborators.

Our inclusive approach respects the Christian traditions of the country while encouraging open discussion of different faiths and beliefs in an atmosphere of openness, fairness, and mutual respect. This approach helps in nurturing aspiring entrepreneurs and individuals aware of their place in our world. We emphasise making reasoned and informed judgments about religious and moral issues, thereby enriching the spiritual and moral development of our pupils.

Recognising the diverse cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds of our students, staff, and parents, we value and positively embrace this diversity, aiming to enrich lives and encourage social awareness and understanding.

Our 'no ceiling' approach and adaptive planning enable pupils, including those with SEND and the most able, to access and excel in our challenging curriculum. This method ensures that all children feel confident in their RE learning, aligning with the 7R’s learning behaviours and ensuring they gain rich experiences from their educational journey at Mount Stewart.

• At Mount Stewart, the aim is to provide a broad, balanced, spiritual, moral, cultural, and knowledge-based Religious Education curriculum.
• The curriculum is designed to give students insight into the nature of Faith and what it means to be religious.
• The goal is for students to understand the world around them and respect the beliefs of others while acknowledging the broadly Christian tradition of the country.
• The curriculum aims to empower children to make reasoned and informed judgments about religious and moral issues.

Implementation:

Our school is proud to embrace a diverse array of religious beliefs. Our curriculum, adhering to the Brent Agreed Syllabus, is carefully crafted to reflect the multifaceted backgrounds of the Mount Stewart students. It delves into various themes like Light, or Life and Death, offering insights into different faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Bahai, Buddhism, Sikhism, Humanism, and Atheism. We recognise and respect the unique religious backgrounds of each student and their family. In our classrooms, students are encouraged to share their personal religious experiences, enriching the learning environment for everyone. We also invite local faith leaders to provide a deeper understanding of their beliefs and arrange visits to various places of worship. This allows our students to experience first-hand the practices, prayers, and rituals of different faiths. Our lessons include a variety of engaging activities and incorporate sacred texts and objects from these faiths, ensuring a respectful and immersive educational experience for all students, while upholding their right to their individual faiths.

• The curriculum reflects the diverse faiths within the school, following the Brent Agreed Syllabus.
• Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Bahai, Buddhism, Sikhism, Humanism, and Atheism are the core faiths explored.
• Inclusion of high-quality activities, objects, and sacred texts from different faiths in lessons.
• Local faith leaders and visits to places of worship are part of the curriculum.

Inclusivity and Support:

• The curriculum aims to create an atmosphere where every child feels secure in their own beliefs.
• It promotes openness, fairness, and mutual respect.
• The curriculum values the cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds of the school community.
• It encourages the development of social awareness and understanding of others.

Impact:

At Mount Stewart, our students find great joy in their Religious Education lessons, especially given our approach of enquiry-based topics. This structure allows them to delve into a broader range of content across various religions, compared to studying each in isolation. Through this thematic exploration, students can draw connections between different aspects of their learning, fostering both spiritual growth and respect for diverse viewpoints. As they progress in their educational journey, they gain a deeper understanding of the world around them. This understanding nurtures empathy for others, rooted in a comprehensive appreciation of different beliefs, customs, and cultures. Additionally, this approach equips our students with essential skills and attitudes that are crucial for their personal, moral, social, and cultural development, preparing them to be well-rounded, empathetic individuals in a diverse society.

• Students enjoy their RE learning and are exposed to content from various religions through termly enquiry based topics.
• The curriculum helps students make links between their learning and develop spiritual awareness and respect for others.
• It supports the personal, moral, social, and cultural development of the students.

When they leave Mount Stewart they will have:

• An enhanced awareness of the world, characterised by a profound understanding and appreciation of its diverse aspects.
• The ability to empathise with others, fostered by a comprehensive understanding of various beliefs, customs, and cultures.
• A rich set of skills and attitudes that bolster their personal growth, moral integrity, social interactions, and cultural understanding, preparing them to navigate and contribute positively to a multifaceted global community.

Our Religious Education leader, Paramjit Nandhra at Mount Stewart is a keen leader of interfaith understanding, guiding students to embrace diversity with empathy and respect.