Curriculum Implementation

Religious Education structures the curriculum into a 3-year Key Stage 3, a 2-year KS4 and a 2-year KS5 curriculum. The curriculum is a progressive model. Subject and cross subject sequencing intends to develop schemata making subsequent learning possible.

Subject specialists have given consideration and thought to the sequence and rationale of the curriculum; why we teach the content we do and in the order that we do. This is to ensure knowledge is not isolated information; it is connected knowledge that enables comprehension.

At Key Stage 3, the curriculum reflects the recommendations from both the Sefton Locally Agreed Syllabus and the Ofsted Review of Religious Education (May 2021). The Religious Education curriculum is organised into units of study. Each unit builds on prior knowledge allowing connections to be made and enables knowledge to be transferable. In Religious Education, we believe this facilitates deeper comprehension. The unit content taught is chosen so lessons focus on developing deeper understanding and capacity for skilful performance.

At Key Stage 4, the AQA Religious Studies Specification A is delivered. Content is structured into topics. The curriculum is designed to ensure students develop the knowledge that is required for them to gain mastery in being able to explain, contrast, analyse and evaluate the content being delivered. Each lesson builds on prior learning, allowing connections to be made between content Units have been organised and designed to promote learning and provide depth and breadth of understanding.

At Key Stage 5 the Pearson Edexcel Religious Studies specification is delivered. Content is structured into topics. We do not ‘teach to the test.’ The curriculum is designed to ensure students gain the knowledge required to develop mastery in exploring, assessing, clarifying, analysing, and evaluating philosophical and ethical concepts and debates. Each lesson builds on prior learning, allowing connections to be made between content. Units have been organised and designed to promote learning and provide depth and breadth of understanding

Student voice has been conducted to ensure that students have a contribution to the curriculum content. This has resulted in the selection of Human Rights and Social Justice as one of the GCSE topics that is taught at Key Stage 4. It has also resulted in the expansion of the Crime and Punishment unit in Year 9; this was previously a unit on the problem of evil but student voice reflected that students greatly enjoyed the crime and punishment aspect and wanted the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the issues.

The Religious Education Department is a member of NATRE and works alongside the School Improvement Partners to quality assure our curriculum and ensure that it provides a high quality and comprehensive curriculum for all.

Pedagogical approach

The pedagogical approach for Religious Education adheres to the LLT Teaching and Learning Policy. Subject specialists deliver the Religious Education curriculum through50 ,55-minute lessons per fortnight

Rosenshine and ‘Teach Like a Champion’ strategies are implemented in all lessons and lesson episodes are designed to enable students to store knowledge into the long-term memory.

Lessons

Tasks and activities are engaging and whenever possible are linked to local context, careers and progression and develop cultural capital. Examples include the inclusion of Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams as one of the people looked at in the Inspirational People unit and the inclusion of the Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedrals as part of the enquiry as to whether religious buildings should be sold to feed the starving.

Lessons are structured to enable students to review/retrieve prior knowledge and activate it to make connections with new learning. This is through ‘Do It Now’ tasks at the start of each lesson and a reviewing material task at the end.

In each lesson, students are informed what they are learning and what the outcomes for the lesson are. We call these ‘WALT’ (What we are all learning today,) and ‘WILF’ (What I’m Looking For.)

New information is delivered in small steps and models are provided to support student comprehension. We make extensive use of the ‘I do, we do, you do’ Rosenshine strategies to support students development towards mastery.

Lessons provide opportunities for students to practice applying their new learning. This may include guided and/or independent practice.

Questioning is used to inform adaptive teaching, and this includes techniques such as ‘right is right’ to ensure students accurately and clearly articulate their responses.

Students develop essential knowledge and then apply it in activities that ‘bring it all together.’ This ensures they connect knowledge and learning.

We assess an ever expanding curriculum. Assessment takes place in the form of formative and summative assessment tasks. These are carefully considered and link directly to the curriculum intent for the half term. Summative assessment samples from the whole curriculum to date – not just what has been taught most recently.

Clear ‘essential knowledge reading’ activities are provided to support reading development and provide depth and breadth to the curriculum.

Literacy

In Religious Education teachers:

Clearly communicate their subject discipline using appropriate vocabulary. This includes the use of command words, vocabulary lists, Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

Religious Education reading materials are carefully selected to develop reading and comprehension skills. The Religious Education department teach reading comprehension strategies through summarisation and questioning. We provide support for students so they can access challenging texts such as paired and guided reading.

In Religious Education we provide opportunities for students to ‘bring together’ knowledge developed. This is through extended writing tasks, practical demonstrations and practice exams.

To develop oracy the Religious Education Department uses: the turn and talk strategy from the Teach Like a Champion framework.