Religion and Worldviews

Frodsham Manor House hold the REQM Gold for our fantastic work in RE and Mrs Anstice is a Specialist Leader in Education, Advisor for Cheshire West Schools and Vice Chair of NATRE (National Association for the Teachers of RE.)  She regularly speaks at national conferences and leads workshops. 

Our Intent for our Religion and World Views Curriculum

Our RE curriculum is designed to meet the content requirements of the agreed syllabus and many of our lessons are also used in other CWAC schools. There is a set amount of time specified in the agreed syllabus for each religion. 

The CW&C syllabus states through the teaching of RE, children learn the essential knowledge of other religions and worldviews, as well as skills and attitudes such as critical thinking and empathy. This understanding of others’ worldviews is an essential first step to enabling each pupil to understand, reflect on and develop their own personal worldview,  

Our Implementation for our Religion and World Views Curriculum

Our RE lessons are based on a big question each half term., we make connections and collect clues to help us to answer the big question.  Our work is concept driven and we often focus on key words to develop religious literacy and equip us with the skills we need to discuss religion. We don't use individual books to record our work as we are instead developing the skills needed to access Religious Education like debating and group work, however you can see samples of our lessons in our class big books. We currently learn about Christianity, the Jewish Faith and Islam in Key Stage One, Christianity, Hindu Dharma, Sikhi,  Islam and the Jewish Faith in Key Stage Two.  We are also introduced to Humanism as a non-religious world view with sessions in both key stages delivered as a theme and alongside other learning to make a comparison. We may also consider different religions alongside global learning and interfaith projects.

We have introduced three common threads that run through our lessons these are;

• Belief and Authority
• Worship, Life Stages and Spirituality
• Equality and Diversity

You can see how these develop in more detail with our progression maps for knowledge and skills.

In our RE lessons we are often thinking about how we are developing our learning as Theologians (when working to make connections in sacred texts), Philosophers (when thinking deeply about puzzling questions which can include our own world view) and Sociologists (when learning about how a belief in shown in practice as part of a community which includes worship and festivals.) These are some of our lenses which help us to understand the world around us. Sometimes we use lenses to help us to answer from someone else’s point of view which develops our empathy skills. We also have RE Buddies (including a Humanist) who help us to develop learning in EYFS and KS1. They all have a back story which have been designed by a class and help to hook us into the content for that lesson. It is also equally important to link learning at EYFS and KS1 to real life children and families as much as possible. We use lots of photos and film clips to support this.

We have regular visits and visitors as part of our RE curriculum and have outdoor learning opportunities on our school grounds. RE lessons often include Philosophy for Children , circle time, critical thinking, learning from believers (email, Zoom or twitter interviews, visitors, film clips) and opportunities to unpack concepts through drama, art and Computing. We are also interested in looking at religious views in the media. Our RE helps us to learn about diversity in the UK and around the world.

As we are not a school  with a religious designation, all RE teaching is delivered in a manner suitable for all to access, e.g “This is what most Christians believe” or “this is what some people think”. Some children may develop their own beliefs through RE lessons (whether this be through a particular faith, a sense of awe, or a decision to not believe) and all views are respected and developed accordingly.

It is important to keep in mind that R.E. makes a distinctive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in that it is dealing specifically the meaning, purpose and value of life. The importance of religious tolerance is also a key component of British Values and the Prevent Agenda.

RE is taught weekly by Mrs Anstice including some provision for EYFS. Additional EYFS opportunities are part of their themed weeks led by the class teacher, e.g. Christmas, Diwali, Lunar New Year.  

The impact of our Religion and World Views Curriculum

Through our sessions, children should be able to access their key words to help them to discuss, recall knowledge and understand religion in society. Specific skills for Religious Education will have been developed including;

KS1

• retelling religious stories
• recognising symbols
• sharing my opinions
• asking questions
• responding positively to differences and similarities 

KS2

• making connections between words of wisdom
• can reflect on their own values and those of a believer
• can understand different ways of life and ways to express meaning
• can ask and have the skills to answer, ultimate and ethical questions from their viewpoint and that of a believer
• develop a local and global perspective of diversity
• discuss issues and support the development of community cohesion

In the long term we would hope that Manor House pupils through their experiences and learning in Religious and Non-Religious Worldviews become;

• Respectful, tolerant and globally aware individuals
• Who have a sense of belonging, community, ethical standards and a sense of wellbeing and happiness
• Avoid extremism and have the skills to recognise and challenge prejudice throughout their lives.

Our ongoing skills development include Critical Thinking, Religious Tolerance, Investigation, Interpretation, Reflection, Evaluation, Analysis, Synthesis, Application, Expression, Self Understanding, Communication, Problem Solving.

Our developing attitudes in religion and world views include Self Esteem, Curiosity, Fairness, Respect, Empathy, Wonder, Open-mindedness, Working with others, Sense of Community.

Additional opportunities for RE include visits to local places of worship, Chester Cathedral, Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool Synagogue and St Paul's Cathedral. We take part in the Christmas and Easter Journeys with Frodsham Churches Together at Main Street Chapel. We hold our KS1 Wedding at Frodsham Methodist Church and visit St Laurence's. We work with Imran Kotwal from Muslim Learner Services and Jonathon from The Anne Frank Trust  annually as well as Harkirat Singh and Prayjoti and interview people over Twitter or Zoom. We take part in RE workshops with other schools and work with Cheshire Inter Faith Network for our multi-faith week.  We often have teachers from other schools and universities who come to see our work in RE and how we do our lessons. 

Below you can find documents relating to the teaching of Religious and Non-Religious Worldviews at Frodsham Manor House. 

We follow the Cheshire West and Chester Agreed Syllabus. Some of the relevant documents can be found here. All other guidance is freely available. Click here.