“Teaching about faith supports inclusive learning about religious diversity, builds empathy, and inspires compassion.” Smita Garg.

Intent

At Northfield, we promote mutual respect through learning and celebrating different faiths. We give our pupils knowledge and understanding of the six main world religions from EYFS to Year 6. This will improve the children’s understanding of the world around them, outside of their home town. Religious education at Northfield also intends to combat discrimination and judgement of different viewpoints and beliefs. Our aim is to produce kind, caring and open-minded individuals ready to face the wider world with understanding and respect.

Jigsaw RE

 We are currently following the Jigsaw RE curriculum, which is enquiry based. This means that the children are posed a question to explore and discuss during each session. This encourages the children to engage and become inquisitive about what they find interesting and puzzling about different beliefs. We have broken the curriculum down into three units per year group. Each year group will study Christianity and two additional religions.

By the end of Year 6 the children will have a wealth of knowledge about the six most prominent World Religions. The new curriculum comes with some vibrant characters to ground the knowledge and make it relatable to all of the children.  Let’s meet the Owls…

What do we teach?

Cultural Capital

Our curriculum is enhanced by whole school Cultural Capital days that focus on a different religion each time. In Autumn we explore the Harvest Festival, Divali, Hanukkah and making Christingles at Christmas. In Spring we learn about Lunar New Year, Passover, Easter and Ramadan. In Summer we discover what makes Sikhism and Buddhism special.

Community Links

We are extremely fortunate at Northfield, as we have a  local church with such a welcoming Reverend: Rev. Simon Stokes, who is now also part of our governing body. We have developed these strong links with the church to enrich the children’s knowledge of Christianity and its role in their local community. Year 5 and 6 hold their annual Carol Concert there and each year we join Rev. Simon for an Easter Celebration Assembly. Rev. Simon holds monthly assemblies in school and students take part in termly visits to the church as an extension of our RE classroom. It provides a tangible context for their learning.