Thornhill’s Key Principles for the Teaching of RE:

At Thornhill, we follow the Kapow Primary Religion and Worldviews curriculum which aims to develop deep thinkers who are open-minded about religion and worldviews.
Kapow’s R&W scheme of work enables pupils to meet the government guidance, which states that RE must reflect that ‘the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain’.

Through the scheme, children will secure a deep understanding of concepts in order to be able to make connections, ask and respond to challenging questions, learn to respect and appreciate worldviews that are different to their own and consider their personal preconceptions, responses and views.

Children will build their conceptual knowledge through studying religions and worldviews locally, nationally and globally, enabling them to make links and connections between worldviews, develop disciplinary skills and build on their understanding of their positionality in relation to their learning.

By revisiting key ‘big questions’ and building on prior knowledge, pupils will learn about how religion and worldviews are lived experiences across the world, consider the impact of worldviews on society and have opportunities to consider their personal worldviews.

The Kapow scheme has the following three strands running through it. These are:

• Substantive knowledge (conceptual and worldviews related)
• Disciplinary knowledge
• Personal knowledge.

These strands are interwoven across all units to create lessons that build children’s conceptual knowledge and understanding of religion and worldviews (substantive knowledge) and use a range of disciplinary lenses (ways of knowing). Children will also be equipped to explore and express their preconceptions, personal worldviews and positionality (personal knowledge) through varied and engaging learning experiences.

The Kapow Primary Religion and worldviews scheme follows the spiral curriculum model, where units and lessons are carefully sequenced so that previous conceptual knowledge is returned to and built upon. Children progress by developing and deepening their knowledge and understanding of substantive and disciplinary concepts by experiencing them in a range of contexts.

https://www.kapowprimary.com/subjects/religion-and-worldviews/

The Right of Withdrawal from Religious Education:

Religion and belief have become more visible in public life in recent years, making it important that all pupils should have an opportunity to engage in RE. However, the parent of a pupil at a community, foundation or voluntary school (or pupils themselves if they are aged 18 or over) may request that they be excused from all or part of the religious education (RE) provided. Parents who wish to withdraw their children from RE should be aware of its aims and what is covered in the RE curriculum, and that they are given the opportunity to discuss this if they wish. It should be made clear whether the withdrawal is from the whole RE curriculum or specific parts of it. No reasons need be given

Important - limitations to withdraw

If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching. A pupil may be required to work in another area of the school, such as library or break out area.

Whilst parents or carers have a right to withdraw children from RE, they should note that children may also encounter religions and beliefs and wider aspects of faith in other areas of the curriculum from which there is no right of withdrawal.

On occasion, spontaneous questions about religious matters are raised by pupils or issues related to religion arise in other curriculum subjects such as history or citizenship (PSHE) For example, schools promote community cohesion and help pupils to understand ideas about identity and diversity, feelings and emotions within both religious and non-religious contexts.

Managing the Right of Withdrawal

If pupils are withdrawn from RE, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra cost. Pupils will usually remain on school premises where it is feasible and appropriate. Where a request for withdrawal is made, the school must comply and excuse the pupil until the request is rescinded. Though not legally required, it is good practice for a head teacher to invite parents to discuss their written request. (Section 71(3), School Standards and Framework Act 1998).