Our RE curriculum is designed to meet the content requirements of the Cambridgeshire agreed syllabus. There is a set amount of time specified for each religion which reflects both the agreed syllabus and the beliefs within our school. We use the Understanding Christianity resource, alongside our own Vine Design curriculum, to meet the statutory requirements of the Locally Agreed Syllabus 2023 - 2028.

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/agreed-syllabus-2023-28.pdf

Intention

Religious Education at The Vine

• develops religious literacy.
• develops deeper level thinking through enquiry-based learning.
• is relevant to The Vine School community.
• provides opportunities for engagement with the Church, the wider Cambourne community and a range of religions.

Implementation

Our RE lessons are based on a big question, usually one for each half term. We make connections and collect clues to help us answer the big question. Teaching of RE starts at preschool and continues throughout the whole school. From FS2 to Year 6, RE is taught for a minimum of 1 hour per week. We also have 3 whole school Vine Vision Days, which are part of our Enrichment curriculum; these are once per term with a whole school focus on Global World Faiths. In addition to this, RE forms part of the half-termly home learning. Pupils also experience different religions through community visitors in school and visits out to different places of worship.

The Vine RE curriculum includes study of Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Humanism. Our role as an inter-church school is reflected in our curriculum through explicit teaching of Understanding Christianity and Methodism.

The end-of-year statements ensure progression of knowledge and skills from learning in previous year groups. This is used to support pupils’ reflection and form teacher’s assessments based on AT1 (learning about religion and belief) and AT2 (learning from religion and belief) statements.

RE links to the School Vision

• ’This is our school’–Our curriculum is designed to reflect and understand in depth the multiple faiths within our school community.
• ‘Let Peace dwell here’ – Ethical questioning and critical thinking is developed through the RE curriculum, especially within AT2. Pupils also learn about ‘rules’ of different religions and how they impact how we live today.
• ‘Let the rooms be full of contentment’ – Planning is progressive and skills are taught from FS1 to Year 6.
• ‘Let love abide here’– We teach tolerance, respect and compassion towards all faiths and communities.
• ‘Love of one another’– Diversity is celebrated through different faiths.
• ‘Love of mankind’ – Our curriculum develops children as a ‘Global Citizen’ and provides experiences with the wider world through church links and visits.
• ‘Love of life’ - Cross curricular opportunities including art, music, DT, PE are embedded in the RE curriculum. Pupils are exposed to the rich diversity of wider society.
• ‘Love of God’ - As an inter-church school, the RE curriculum has strong weighting on Christianity so that the pupils understand how God’s values impact their lives.
• ‘So many hearts’ - We embrace and celebrate all faiths in our school and invite pupils, parents and visitors from the community to share their faiths with one another.

Links to Christian and British Values

Our curriculum develops the British value of mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith. Understanding of rule of law, individual liberty and respect for democracy is taught and explored in depth through debate and critical thinking activities.