Promoting Religious Education at Bromstone Primary School A concept based approach

My history with RE I was a member of Hampshire SACRE as a representative of teaching organisations. I helped put together Hampshire’s Agreed Syllabus Living Difference. I worked closely with the Advisory service to develop materials for Living Difference. I introduced weekly Philosophy for Children into my Hampshire school in 2004 and into Bromstone in 2008.

Bromstone Primary School Is higher than national average for: Number of children on roll 269 [245] Free school meals 23.4% [19.2%] % pupils with special needs at SA 21.1% [11.3%] % pupils with special needs SA+ or statement 17.5% [8%] % stability 59.3% [85%] (lower is less stable) Deprivation indicator 0.26 [0.23]

Our percentage of pupils with English as an Additional Language is below national average but we are in the 60 th percentile and are above Thanet and Kent Average. We currently speak 23 different mother tongues in our school with a substantial number of children new to Britain. Most of our children are Christian and we also include Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists and children of no faith.

In 2011 our academic results were higher than national average for: English (level 4 and level 5) Mathematics (level 4 and level 5) English and Mathematics combined Significantly above national average: Value Added in English Mathematics Combined English and mathematics

When I arrived at Bromstone in 2008 RE was ‘delivered’ across the school by Higher Level Teaching Assistants who had received no training in RE teaching. RE took place each week for forty five minutes during the teachers’ PPA time. Most RE learning consisted of children filling in worksheets based around factual learning. There was little place for discussion or deepening understanding.

Bromstone Follows the Kent Agreed Syllabus. We have developed our teaching methodology from Hampshire’s Living Difference.

We now have three RE weeks a year – one each term with a focus on a different aspect of the Kent Agreed Syllabus. During our RE weeks we plan a cross-curricular topic. If other subjects fit in naturally we include them – if they don’t we do not force inappropriate links. Teachers plan stimulating visits, speakers and learning opportunities. All of our topics start with a ‘stimulus’. Our children LOVE our RE weeks.

Concept Based Planning We take the content for our RE weeks from the concepts in the Kent Agreed Syllabus: Communitysymbolworship LightBrahmanbelief BelongingpsalmPilgrimage Revelationresponsibilityauthority CommandmentsubmissionTorah

We shall enquire into the concept…: The religious context is: We will evaluate the children's response to the concept by: The children will communicate their response by: The children will be given the opportunity to apply their new knowledge by:

Our RE weeks are active, involving visits, speakers and discussion. Children in year 3 had a visit from Maggie from Fegans and visited the Baptist Church. They were exploring the theme of ‘belonging’.

The week long project gave the children time to explore the theme of commitment with particular reference to belonging to the Baptist Church.

Children developed a deeper sense of the concept of commitment by looking at the lives of famous Christians: Desmond Tutu and Sister Frances Dominica. They watched and discussed a video on the work of the Tear Fund and the ending of Apartheit. They then applied their new knowledge and understanding to showing their own commitment to our school. (See the RE week Autumn Term 2011 Year 3)

‘In reception children listen to specialist words and use their senses in exploring religious beliefs, practices and forms of expression’. Kent Agreed Syllabus

Reception children studied ‘Harvest’ The children discussed where their food comes from. They made bread and soup and went on to taste it. They discussed why many religions celebrate Harvest through ceremonies to thank God.

Year 2 Visited Canterbury Cathedral for their RE stimulus. This was the first time any of the children had visited the Cathedral! They told me they ‘loved’ the visit and were ‘amazed – it was so massive’.

This was a multisensory activity which appealed to different learning styles. The visit and ensuing work was so successful that the teachers have decided to continue the theme into our next SIX weekly block of work on the theme of light. They are going to use the ‘awe and wonder’ the children experienced in the Cathedral to inspire them to study light in the context of Divali, Hannuka and Christmas. The theme goes across several disciplines including literacy, science, history and art.

Year 6 studied Judaism and particularly ‘Tashlick’. Tashlick is a tradition connected with the Day of Atonement where stones are cast into the sea. Children studied the concept of ‘symbols and religious expression’. They then made their own stones which symbolically represented aspects of their own lives or personalities that they wished to change. One of our new arrivals from Romania has written ‘Speke to my father in Romania’.

Our only Sikh child in year 6 felt totally included in the activity and was able to relate the concept to her own experience of being a Sikh. She was then able to relate her experience to the other children so deepening their understanding of her religion too.

‘I will change my behaviour and not distract others.’ ‘Lights will Shine’

In their own ceremony the children then cast their stones into the sea.

The Impact on Learning Most of these activities would not have taken place if we had not introduced concept based learning and RE weeks. I was told by a parent Governor that one of her sons ask to be Baptised following our RE week. Also that that Bromstone was the only school in her son’s secondary school who passed on work from the year 6 Sikh transition project.

At Bromstone we do not see RE as an ‘add on’ which we need to ‘find space for’ in the curriculum. We embrace RE as an awe inspiring stimulus and starting point for developing literacy, art, music, history, geography and most aspects of the curriculum.

Pupils behave well and thoroughly enjoy school, especially the wide range of clubs and visits. These greatly enrich the curriculum and contribute strongly to pupils’ outstanding spiritual, social, moral and cultural development. Pupils become very responsible citizens and they support each other extremely sensitively. In philosophy lessons they discuss complex ethical issues, listening well to different views. The school’s International School Award reflects its good contribution to community cohesion. Pupils are open to new ideas. For example, one pupil commented, ‘After I had heard a Muslim prayer, I wanted to find out more about their beliefs.’ Ofsted March 2011