RE
At Hamp Nursery and Infant School, we have designed our Religious Education Curriculum, with the intent that all our children become confident, questioning, mindful and accepting learners. Our RE Curriculum takes our children on a journey of exploration, where they can discover more about themselves and their own beliefs, as they find out about the core beliefs of some world religions in the world we live in. We believe the teaching of RE is vital for helping children make connections between their own values and the beliefs of others. It is our role to provide high quality and creative experiences, to enable children to reflect on, discover, respond to and question the beliefs of others. This will encourage them to start forming their own ideas, opinions and beliefs, thereby developing their awareness of being a part of a richly diverse and changing world.
At Hamp Nursery and Infants School we aim, by the end of Key Stage One, to develop in all students the ability to:
Think about what makes them special, important and unique.
Think and wonder about the world they live in.
Know and talk about similarities and differences between themselves and others, within their family and school communities.
Know, reflect on and respect what different religious and cultural communities believe.
Know and understand some essential key beliefs of Christianity, Judaism and Humanism.
Know some special stories from Christianity and Judaism.
Interpret what the stories are telling the believers about their god.
Interpret what the stories are telling the believers about how to live their lives.
Suggest answers to raised questions.
Explore religious beliefs through questioning.
Reflect on and articulate their own beliefs.
The new agreed Somerset Religious Education Syllabus, Awareness, Mystery and Value 2019, forms the basis of Religious Education at Hamp Nursery and Infant School. The syllabus outlines that all children should learn about four key Christian beliefs and two of another religion. We have chosen to teach Judaism, as the concepts behind the beliefs will be easier for the children at Hamp Nursery and Infant School to understand.
According to the statutory syllabus, by the end of Key Stage 1 all children must be secure in their understanding and knowledge of the following:
Christianity
Key belief – Salvation
Know that the Christian Holy book is called the Bible, and that it is divided into two parts – Old Testament (which Christians share with Judaism – Jesus was a Jew) and New Testament.
Recall stories from the Bible associated with the last eight days of Jesus’ life, including (a) his entry into Jerusalem, (b) the Last Supper, (c) his arrest, (d) crucifixion and (e) resurrection.
Recognise the order of the key events in the Biblical narrative.
Identify these stories with the religion of Christianity, who are collectively called Christians and know they are from the Bible.
Understand that Christians believe that Jesus died so people can be forgiven by God.
Understand that Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead, giving hope of a new life.
Raise and suggest answers to relevant questions in response to their enquiry into the Easter story.
Belief – God (God and Creation)
Christians find out about what God is like and how he wants people to live from the Bible.
There is a story in the Bible which Christians believe expresses their key beliefs about creation.
God created the universe.
The story is called the six days of creation and describes what God did as the world was created.
The last thing that God created was humans.
Christians believe that God expects humans to care for His world because it belongs to God.
Raise and suggest answers to relevant questions in response to their enquiry into what Christians believe about God.
Belief – Incarnation
Christians find out about what Jesus is like and how he wants people to live from the Bible.
Understand that Advent is the time before Christmas when Christians get ready for Jesus coming.
Recall Bible stories associated with the birth of Jesus. Including (a) the meaning of his names Immanuel (God is with us) and Jesus (he saves), (b) the angel Gabriel’s message to Mary – that her baby is God’s son, (c) his humble birth, (d) visited by shepherds – ordinary people – and the Magi.
Identify these stories with the religion of Christianity, whose members are collectively called Christians and know that these stories are from the Bible.
Recognise the order of the key events in the Biblical narrative.
Raise and suggest answers to relevant questions in response to their enquiry into the Christmas story.
Belief – Agape (selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love) (Gospel)
Jesus taught that people should be loving, kind and forgiving to everyone because this is what God is like.
Recall the story of the Unmerciful Servant Matthew 18:23-34, linking it to forgiveness in the Lord’s prayer Matthew 6:5-15 including (a) Peter’s question, ‘How many times should I forgive?’ (b) the events of the parable, (c) understand that, just as Christians believe that God forgives them, Jesus wants them to forgive everyone, (d) that Christians are reminded of these things every time they pray the Lord’s Prayer
Reflect on the implications of this story for Christians and for themselves today.
Raise and suggest answers to relevant questions in response to their enquiry into this story eg. ‘Why did Jesus tell this story and other parables?
Judaism
Key Belief – God and Covenant
Know that Jews believe in one God who created the universe.
Know basic elements of the story found in Genesis.
God made the world from nothing
God makes everything in the world including plants and animals
Man is the last to be made
Man is made last and is given responsibility to care for the world God has created
Know that the Jewish name for God is Adonai which means Lord. Jews use the name with great respect, never carelessly. Sometimes Jews write the word as God because of its sacredness.
Be able to recognise the Star of David as a symbol of Judaism, which represents the six days of creation found in Genesis.
Know that Jews live all over the world, but Israel is considered very special as it was promised to Abraham and his descendants by God.
Raise and suggest answers to relevant questions in response to the story of creation.
Attempt to support their answers using reasons and/or information.
Belief – Torah
Know that the Torah means ‘teaching’ and is the most important part of Jewish scriptures.
Know that it contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
It teaches Jews what God is like and how they should live their lives.
One day a week Jews observe the Sabbath; they rest, have a meal on Friday evening with their family. Jews believe that bringing the family together once a week when no one works is important.
Understand how special the Torah is for Jews: the Torah is read every week in the synagogue. The end of one cycle is celebrated with Simchat Torah.
Raise and suggest answers to relevant questions in response to the Jewish teachings on Torah.
Attempt to support their answers using reasoning and/or relevant information.
Humanism
Be familiar with the terms ‘Humanist’ and ‘atheist’.
Know that of utmost importance for a Humanist is what human beings have achieved and can achieve as individuals and together to improve life for everyone and look after the world.
Know that many Humanists are ‘atheists’; they do not believe in a deity or deities.
Know how a Humanist family might celebrate the birth of a child and/or the naming of a baby.
Be able to recognise the ‘happy human’ as a symbol of Humanism (showing that the human being and the potential of human activity to shape our world are at the centre of what Humanists believe).