The golden rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. 

Religious Education

Our Christian vision is rooted in John 15:1-17 Jesus as the Vine.

Within nourishing soil of prayer and worship our school and church together provide space, opportunity and support to root, grow, connect and bear fruit; expanding understanding of the world, fostering good relationships, exploring individual’s gifts, and deepening resilience of character.

At Bapchild & Tonge CE Primary School and Nursery, our vision is not solely for children to achieve academically, but that they are nurtured and challenged so they feel confident to flourish with others around them in their community and wider world.  They are immersed with our Christian ethos through termly values of compassion, friendship, perseverance, forgiveness, trust and openness which support children in their daily life. Our RE curriculum provides opportunities for children to learn about, understand, question and reflect upon different religions, beliefs, cultures and rituals along with experiencing visiting places of worship. It engages pupils through the promotion of British Values. It gives them an awareness of community close to home and further afield, supporting their growth and awareness as positive members of society. We aim to teach pupils to have a genuine spirit of enquiry in order to be religiously literate which will teach them to be respectful of the lives of people of all faiths and beliefs. RE at Bapchild and Tonge supports children's higher level questioning and enquiry skills as well as helping their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding and development.

Intent: 

As a Church of England school, the teaching of Religious Education at Bapchild & Tonge CE (Aided) Primary School and Nursery is central to our curriculum. In the Statement of Entitlement, it states that 'Religious education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10). It will help educate for dignity and respect encouraging all to live well together'. 

Through our Religious Education Curriculum, our School aims for all pupils to: 

• know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of core beliefs using an approach that critically engages with biblical text.
• gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews appreciating diversity, continuity and change within the religions and worldviews being studied as well as of the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures.
• engage with challenging discussions, questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience confidently using rich language and vocabulary. 
• challenge pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs, the self, ethical issues, and what it means to be human.
• recognise the concept of religion and its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals and societies in different times, cultures and places.
• explore their own religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.
• support development of a sense of awe, wonder and mystery.

At Bapchild & Tonge CE (Aided) Primary School and Nursery, a high quality Religious Education is essential for children to develop a deep knowledge, understanding and respect for the diverse range of people living around them in modern Britain and worldwide. It is important that children have the opportunities to learn about the different religions, faiths and communities, in order for them to explore, question, investigate and reflect on some of the most fundamental questions asked by people. We want our children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the major world faiths by addressing the fundamental questions in life, for example, the meaning of life and the existence of a divine spirit. Pupils’ understanding of our School Christian Values is supported through their learning in Religious Education. Children reflect on what it means to have a faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. RE contributes towards the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of each pupil. It also promotes education for citizenship.

Implementation: 

Religious Education is a statutory subject of the curriculum for all pupils in each year group and is taught as a core subject in every class from Reception to Year 6. RE is taught discreetly and weekly and is timetabled for close to 10% curriculum time to allow pupils to meet RE objectives. At least 50% of the RE Curriculum is dedicated to Christianity. 

At Bapchild and Tonge CE (Aided) Primary School and Nursery, we provide our children with a high-quality sequential religious education (RE) programme. We follow the Kent Agreed Syllabus and use the Understanding Christianity resource along with World Faith units as a tool where teachers plan and teach a variety of interesting and thought-provoking lessons to enable children to deepen their RE knowledge and flourish spiritually with opportunities for self-reflection and reflect on the impact of religion and faith on the people around them. Lessons are planned and delivered in a variety of ways so that all children can participate fully. Staff ensure that all children have the opportunity to learn with scaffold learning activities  so equity can be achieved. 

The cyclical long term plan enables pupils to revisit and build on previous learning, while supporting cognitive load. We encourage our pupils to discuss their ideas and extend their understanding of difficult concepts and challenging questions. 

The Understanding Christianity resource: 

• supports the teaching of theological and conceptual ideas with a clear outline of core knowledge ‘building blocks’.
• ensures that pupils will visit the ‘core learning’ and then revisit the following year with a ‘digging deeper’ unit, building on previous learning.
• ensures that teaching and learning approach incorporates the elements of making sense of text, understanding the impact and making connections.
• begins each unit with a ‘big question’ that will be explored throughout the unit and each lesson will have a question to support children with their learning. 

The World Faith units: 

• supports the teaching of theology (God), philosophy (reality) and human and social science (community)
• use a ‘golden thread’ approach which connect the learning from each world faith unit to previous and future learning.
• emphasises the importance of distinctive RE skills, such as enquiring, questioning, analysing and interpreting, as well as empathising and reflecting. 
• begins each unit with a ‘big question’ that will be explored throughout the unit and each lesson will have a question to support children with their learning. 

Our Nursery children benefit from a story telling resource we use the resources ‘Diddy Disciples’ which is a worship and story-telling resource which principles are based on movement, repetition, our voices, spirituality, church, learning and our emotions.
 

Staff have outcomes, progression documents and Knowledge Organisers to support them in their planning and assessment. These are used to support staff when making judgements of pupils attainment and progress and this is tracked using Target Tracker. 

Impact: 

RE at Bapchild & Tonge CE (Aided) Primary School and Nursery develops pupil's:

• knowledge and understanding of, and their ability to respond to, Christianity, other principal world religions, other religious traditions, faiths and world views;
• understanding and respect for different religions, beliefs, values and traditions, through exploring issues within and between faiths;
• understanding of the impact of faith and belief on individuals, societies, communities and cultures;
• confidence in skills of enquiry and response through the use of religious vocabulary, questioning and empathy;
• skills of reflection, expression, application , analysis and evaluation of beliefs, values and practices, and the communication of personal responses to these.

RE at Bapchild & Tonge CE (Aided) Primary School and Nursery encourages pupils to: 

• reflect on their own thoughts and opinions on the challenging questions of the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, their own self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human;
• understand the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures;
• learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions while exploring questions of meaning and their own beliefs;
• learn about religious and ethical teaching, enabling them to make reasoned and informed responses to religious, moral and social issues;
• develop their sense of identity and belonging in the world, preparing them for life as citizens in a multi-cultural global society;
• develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. 

RE at Bapchild & Tonge CE (Aided) Primary School and Nursery offers pupils: 

• opportunities for all pupils for personal reflection and spiritual development;
• an opportunity to have experiences in which they meet and visit people of faith and visit places of worship to continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of differing people which leads to compassion and empathy. 

For details of what is taught in each year group please see the document below:

World Awareness Week 2023

This year for our annual World Awareness Week, we had a focus on Religions, faiths and beliefs from around the world. During the week, each class explored Hindu Dharma, Sikhi, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Children looked at important stories within these religions, how people of faith worship, about the gods that they worship, and how different people of faith live their lives. 

Nursery children visited the Church and Jo Apps ran a Godly Play session, where the children explored the story of the Mustard Seed. 

Reception children went on the train to visit Canterbury Cathedral. The children experienced awe and wonder as many gasps and 'wows' were heard as we entered the Cathedral. Some children linked the size of the cathedral to God's love. One child said that the Monk's garden 'smelled like God's love'. The children explored all the areas of the Cathedral and showed respect and understood that this place is special and where Christians come to worship. They learnt about acts of worship like lighting candles, singing hymns, reading from the Bible and and praying. Some children even said a prayer in the very quiet crypt. 

Years 1 and 4 had a virtual session from Deborah from Chatham Synagogue. They learnt about special objects and Jewish worship. They learnt how to write in Hebrew and draw the Star of David.

Years 2 and 5 went to the Sittingbourne Islamic Centre to learn all about how Muslims worship. The children showed respect by taking off their shoes, listening carefully and asking thoughtful questions. The children were given some treats at the end as a thank you for coming to learn about the Islam religion. They were also given a copy of the Quran and the children were amazed that some Muslims are able to read out everything by memory.  One pupil said 'I didn't know much about Muslims before. Now I do - they're pretty cool'.  The children learnt about the importance of prayer mats and designed their own. They learnt about, and were invited to join in, with the actions for Muslim prayer. 

Years 3 and 6 visited different Gurdwaras. Year 3 went to visit Parminder at the Medway Towns Gurdwara. They learnt all about what is important to Sikhs and saw the very special holy scriptures. Year 6 went to visit Guru Nanak Darbar in Gravesend. They learnt about Sikh worship and tried some delicious food in the Langar. Both classes experienced the hospitality of the Sikhi people.