Curriculum Intent

We wish for every child in our school to gain knowledge about and have an understanding of the multi-faith society in which we all live.  With our own BRICKS values at the heart of the RE curriculum, children learn about different beliefs, world views and practices and how to strengthen relationships between them.  Children learn from each other, their teachers and those around them - we invite and encourage input from the community wherever possible. We hope our pupils will develop an understanding of the points of views and practices from people of the same faith, different faiths and of no faith.  In so doing, we aspire to encourage children to deepen and grow their own spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as either theologians, philosophers and/or sociologists.  In conjunction with this, our BRICKS values promote a sense of curiosity whilst showing respect and understanding that we all belong to the same school, country and shared earth.

Through giving children the tools to understand their own spiritual identity, we want the RE curriculum at Greswold to empower children to adhere to moral values and learn to play their part as well-grounded, confident citizens in our wonderfully diverse society.  Children share, compare, celebrate and find common ground with their peers as we celebrate world-views and learn to understand the important role that we all have to play in promoting community cohesion.

Click here to view the Solihull Local Authority syllabus for Religious Education.

Early Years 

During our home visits and transition sessions we gather child and family specific information so we can celebrate the diversity of our school community.  Throughout the year we concentrate on the concept of ‘special’.  The children will explore special stories, people, places, occasions and celebrations.  They will also explore why they are special.  We use our online learning journal Tapestry to enable parents and children to share their own experiences and knowledge of these events.

Year 1

Children will have the opportunity to enquire about the world and develop knowledge of different religions through stories and thoughtful activities.  The children build upon the concept of special from the foundation stage through exploring special stories, people, places, occasions and celebrations in more detail.  They learn about the Christian creation story, gifts at Christmas, Jesus’ friendships, the Easter story, different forms of prayer and celebrating the birth of a baby.

Year 2

Through an enquiry based approach the children learn about the concepts of choices, remembering, inspiration, changing emotions, worship and belonging. They explore the ideas and beliefs of different religions, particularly Christianity and Judaism. When they visit the ‘Back to Back’ houses pupils explore a Jewish family’s home and before Christmas visit St Alphege church to learn about the Christmas story.  Children learn through exploring artefacts, stories and sharing their own experiences. The children also have opportunities to ask questions to develop their own knowledge and understanding.

Year 3

Through a variety of key questions, the children build upon their learning in key stage 1 through exploring the concepts of peace, symbolism, love, salvation, God and commitment.  They revisit the Christmas story through art and Christian beliefs of Good Friday.  They continue with the idea of life being a journey through exploring commitments people make during their life.  We encourage the children to discuss and share their own worldviews and find out about the views of those in their local community.

Year 4

Through a variety of different approaches, the children explore the concepts of suffering, good and evil, interpretation, Lent, sacred and marriage.  They particularly focus on the Sikh faith through learning about caring for others, sacred books and marriage.  The children will also continue to learn about Christmas through the symbols of light and dark and how Christians prepare for Easter.  Through the symbols of light and dark we also explore Diwali and Hanukah.

Year 5

The children explore and try to answer a number of questions linked to different religions and worldviews.  They explore the concepts of creation, discipline, agape, sacrifice, prayer and pilgrimage.  The children revisit their learning from year 1 about the Christian creation story and they look at stories from other religions and worldviews.  They build upon their knowledge of Jesus through exploring what he taught people about love.  The children also investigate how people in Britain celebrate Christmas through research and surveys.  They continue with the idea of life being a journey through exploring different pilgrimages people may make during their life.  Throughout their learning children are encouraged to recognise similarities and differences between different worldviews and celebrate their own beliefs and views.

Year 6

During the year the children continue to develop on their previous learning at Greswold school through exploring the concepts of freedom, justice, interpretation, questions, resurrection and eternity.  They explore a variety of different religions and worldviews through debates, philosophical discussions, exploring a variety of texts and resources etc.  The children continue to learn about Christian beliefs about Christmas and Easter, with a focus on the resurrection.  They also delve deeper into beliefs about creation through comparing religious and scientific thought. They continue with the idea of life being a journey through exploring definition of, and popular ideas relating to, the concept of eternity.