Understanding Christianity – What is it and why do I need to know about it? Here today to update you on how the UC course has impacted our school.
Why do we teach RE? Religious Education in Church of England Schools – A Statement of Entitlement The aims of RE in Church Schools are: To enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living faith that influences the lives of people worldwide and as a religion that has most shaped British culture and heritage. To enable pupils to know and understand about other world religions and world views, their impact on society, culture and the wider world, enabling pupils to express ideas and insights. To contribute to the development of pupils’ own spiritual/philosophical convictions, exploring and enriching their own beliefs and values. This is the new Statement of Entitlement from the Church of England Education Office. Schools should know about this. I’m not sure many teachers could say this was always happening in their school but it is happening consistently here. It is compulsory to teach RE 36 hours in KS1 and 45 hours in KS2 this equates to 1hr and 1hr15 a week minimum. This does not include collective worship time.
Why do we need the Understanding Christianity resource? Past criticisms of teaching about Christianity in schools include: Atomised – little coherence for pupils Not much progressive or systematic study of core beliefs Pick n mix attitude to Jesus: not much theology, not much about Jesus as Saviour or Lord Use Jesus’ stories to explore personal feelings Christianity as ‘repository of answers’ Not much awareness of different interpretations Little sense of place and context Why need UC atomised means broken into small units, no links or connections.
© RE Today 2016
God Creation Fall People of God Incarnation Gospel Salvation Understanding Christianity explores these eight concepts because they link together in a ‘big story’ which gives the context. Salvation Kingdom of God © RE Today 2016
People of God Prophecy Wisdom Kingdom of God God Creation Fall Incarnation Gospel Salvation Kingdom of God Creation/ Fall People of God God Incarnation Gospel Salvation People of God Kingdom of God Creation/Fall Incarnation Gospel Salvation God Creation Incarnation Gospel Salvation Pupils encounter concepts several times as part of a spiral curriculum – each encounter uses different key questions, texts and approaches. Understanding is reinforced and deepened through these on-going encounters. Creation Incarnation Salvation © RE Today 2016
The teaching and learning approach is fundamental to the Understanding Christianity resource. All three elements above are needed in each unit if pupils are to gain the expected understanding and ability to handle concepts and texts. © RE Today 2016
Ensuring the coverage of the elements means cherry picking the activities is not possible so there is even coverage. We teach RE through drama, role play (the hajj pilgrimage) , computers (powerpoints/2 simple/ emails), art, English but not always written, speaking ,listening – cartoons to tell whichever gospel version of Jesus’ birth.
Does this fit with our local agreed syllabus Journey of Discovery? The syllabus has very recently changed. It’s now ‘Continuing the Journey.’ Understanding Christianity is mentioned throughout and I have incorporated the units into our 2 year cycle. We are further ahead than many schools. Last academic year each class trialled a unit or two. From September all the units in Understanding Christianity will be taught in each class.
© RE Today 2016
© RE Today 2016
Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC) of pupils is a whole-school responsibility. As with all good RE, Understanding Christianity contributes to SMSC through both the subject matter of the curriculum and the attitudes developed in the classroom. Spiritual development: pupils will have the opportunity to recognise, appreciate and appraise the impact the biblical text can have on the lives of individuals, within and outside the Christian community. As they explore the challenge the text has for believers, they will have opportunities to consider their own views and reflect on how the Bible presents a way of understanding the world and human nature. Moral development: alongside the moral and ethical issues that are dealt with in the texts studied, and their own responses to matters of right and wrong, this approach encourages pupils to develop their ability to interpret texts.
Social development: Recognising that all readers come to texts from different perspectives, and that texts can be read for a range of purposes. Learning that people interpret texts differently is also important, so that pupils recognise that this applies to biblical interpretation within and outside the Christian community and to other texts, religious or otherwise. Cultural development: As pupils explore texts and their cultural contexts, they develop understanding of the core Christian concepts and their impact within and beyond the diverse Christian community. This begins to enable pupils to recognise the contribution of Christianity to Western culture, and perhaps particularly the contribution of the Bible to the arts. This plays a part in a wider cultural development promoted in RE, such as appreciating the diversity of religious and non-religious beliefs in local, national and global contexts.
The curriculum map is a working document The curriculum map is a working document. For each unit I produce weekly plans, I will be able to assess the learning and activity choice to fine tune the teaching. Knowledge of the children is important as no cohort is the same. The curriculum map and the weekly plans are shared in advance with each teacher. I am using a new voice activated marking system that addresses the need to mark in a more reflective manner. It allows me the chance to comment on understanding, ask or answer questions. All my comments are saved in a spreadsheet alongside a coloured grading system. This enables me to see a group or individual progress against each weekly objective and the whole unit. The profile of RE within the school has been raised and will be maintained. ‘Understanding Islam’ is currently being worked on and will hopefully be released by Summer 2018. The twilight RE coordinator meetings I am attending are very informative and the focus of the next meeting is ‘Judaism across the keystages.’
© RE Today 2016
© RE Today 2016