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RE Quality Mark

We are proud to announce we have achieved the REQM Silver award. This is an incredible achievement and we are extremely happy with the result.

Here is our official award certificate and logo

The assessors feedback 

Letter of congratulations from Peterborough SACRE

 

Well done to all of the staff for their hard work and commitment to the teaching and learning in RE.

 

Please find below the evidence provided for REQM Silver Award. 

Section 1 - Learners and Learning

B: How do we feel about RE in our school? a. b.

 

B and S: What are our BIG and BIGGER questions? a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

 

Year 2 - Stewardship Rules - What can we do as 'Stewards of God's World'?

                              Class Discussion          Class Discussion

   

 

B: RE links to other curriculum areas and our local community links

a. b. c.

 

Design your own Godly Play Y5

Remembrance Sunday

Explore Club

Eucharist Service

B: Using symbols, artefacts, art, drama, music

Sikh - Vaisakhi 

Islam - Haji Pilgrimage - Pillars of Islam

Islam - Salah - Pillars of Islam

EYFS and Year 1 - Stations of the Cross

 

B: SMSC EYFS.  Y1.  Y2. Y3.  Y4.  Y5. Y6.

Visits to the Mosque

Special visit to the Cathedral with our Y3, with support from our local Reverends Carol and Andrew

Sorry Crosses - What sins do humans commit?

Thankful Pizzas - Who are we thankful for in our lives?

Enrichment Day - Creationism

We read the book 'Here We Are' and looked at our responsibilities as humans and as 'God's Stewards' of the world. We created posters to show the world God wanted and what we have. We also looked at what happened to the world during COVID-19 lockdown and the impact humans have on the world in normal life compared to a less busy life, staying at home in order to survive the worldwide pandemic. 

Global Neighbours Project

 

B: Our Class Discussions

10 commandments

Adam and Eve    

Saviour   

Saviour 2      

Key words       

Key words 2

 

S: Connecting our learning

Jesus as a bridge between Heaven and Earth - the children made matchstick bridges.

St Francis Blessing - Pet day

Section 2 - Teachers and Teaching

Knowledge Organisers

Y1 Creation, God, Incarnation, 5 Pillars of Islam, Salvation, Belonging to Islam

Y2 Creation, Incarnation, Gospel, Belonging to Islam (2021), Faith and Celebration, Salvation,  Belonging to Judaism

Y3 Creation, God,  Incarnation, Belonging to Judaism (2021), Holy books,  Salvation

Y4  Creation, God, Incarnation, Gurus and Seva in Sikhism, Salvation

Y5 Creation, Walk through the Bible (Old Testament), Incarnation

Y6 Creation, Walk through the Bible (New Testament), Incarnation

 

Skills and Knowledge Overview for RE

EYFS  Y1  Y2  Y3  Y4  Y5  Y6

 

Planning Examples for Creation

Y1  Y2 (Digging deeper)   Y3  Y4 (Digging deeper)

 

Planning Examples for Incarnation

Y3   Y4 (Digging deeper)    Y5  Y6 (Digging deeper)

 

Planning Examples for World views and Other Faiths

Y1 Islam   Y2 Faiths and Celebrations    Y3 Holy Books   Y4 Sikhism    Y5 Buddhism

 

Assessment Sheets for Creation and Incarnation

Year 1       Year 2       Year 3       Year 4       Year 5       Year 6

 

Classroom Conditions are created for Effective Learning

Enrichment days

Celebrating cultures at our school day

Festivals of Light Day 2020

Spirited Arts Competition - Where is God?

 

Safe Environment - Learners are valued and can express themselves

Question and discussion times

10 commandments

Adam and Eve    

Saviour   

Saviour 2      

Key words       

Key words 2

 

Plans for space and time - Spiritual Development

Y4 Question time

Reverend Andrew

Time to think PP

SMCS Staff Meeting

 

RE Curriculum Long Term Plan

Question based LTP

COVID response to LTP 2020-21

 

Enquires around BIG questions 

Creationism PP 

 

Big Questions PP 

Staff Meeting and Training

Section 3 - Curriculum

RE Curriculum

Peterborough Agreed RE Syllabus

 

RE is imaginative and engaging for all learners

 

RE Curriculum - Continuity and Progression of Learning

Examples of Planning

We use the Understanding Christianity Programme to help plan our Christian based units from EYFS to Y6. We use the 'Digging' deeper units for the even numbered classes as this allows for the core question to be revisited and learning to be developed further each year. (http://www.understandingchristianity.org.uk/)

 

Planning Examples for Creation

Y1  Y2 (Digging deeper)   Y3  Y4 (Digging deeper)

 

Planning Examples for Incarnation

Y3   Y4 (Digging deeper)    Y5  Y6 (Digging deeper)

 

Planning Examples for World views and Other Faiths

Y1 Islam   Y2 Faiths and Celebrations    Y3 Holy Books   Y4 Sikhism    Y5 Buddhism

 

RE - Promotes understanding of local, national and global faith and belief communities and stimulates learning

 

Resources

 

RE - Significant Contribution to Curricular/Thematic Plans

  • Music
    • Now Press Play
    • Nature's Symphony
    • Louis Armstrong 'What a wonderful world

 

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  • Mechanical and Relax - Creation

 

 

Section 4 - Subject Leadership

Religious Education Policy

  •  

Collective Worship Policy

RE is well resourced

 

SMSC Development

Plans: Y1   Y2   Y3   Y4    Y5    Y6

Training for Staff PP

 

Stakeholder Groups Involvement

Governor Training

St Michael's Ark Preschool 

Section 5 - CPD

School Training and Meetings

Nov 2020     Nov 2019     Jan 2019      Governors     Enrichment 1      Enrichment 2     

Spirited Arts 

Action Research Project

Who started it?

In 2018, Reverend Anne taught the EYFS and KS1 children about the Eucharist in church by showing the children the 'Last Supper' story through Godly play. The adults and children were completely engrossed and listened so carefully to the story it was like a revelation. Following this I decided to research a little more in the area. 

Eucharist - Last Supper

 

Research in the project

There are lots of sample videos on youtube, websites and resources readily available to develop Godly play in schools and primarily in churches. It was easy to see that although many people have a different style, it is important to ensure the atmosphere is calm,  you have a focal point, something to bring the children's interest, not overloading with resources, sitting in a circle as a community and using a quiet voice to keep the children interested and focussed. 

 

How did it begin in school? 

I trialled a Y2 Godly play lesson focussing on the Easter story. It was developed over two lessons as there is a lot to cover and I wanted to make connections to Jesus' life story before coming to the end of his life. The children were sat in a circle. To calm the atmosphere I closed the blinds, switched off the lights and demonstrated breathing deeply for a few moments. Then after long pause, I presented a gold box (which contained the first part of the story). I set the scene and told the children we would be learning about the life of someone special, who people called the Hebrews had waited many years for, the special one, the Messiah, the Saviour, the one to fix the distance between God and humans. The children were familiar with the vocabulary used so knew it would be about Jesus. I placed my hands gently on the box, paused for a moment, stroked the top of the box and told the children it was one of the most special stories ever told from the Bible. I then open my box and removed the candle which I preceded to light. This is all about focussing the children, giving them connections to their prior learning and keeping them calm and interested into what happens next. I told them the 'light of the world' was how Jesus is described in John's gospel and we invite him into our lesson today. Then using small square pieces of felt and tiny objects to represent each part of the story I told them about Jesus' birth and life events leading up to Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and the Last Supper where Judas left the meal. This kept their interest and they wanted to know what was going to happen next. I kept asking them 'I wonder...' questions to keep their attention and invited them to share at different times. I asked the children what they thought was interesting, puzzling and confusing so they understood that at times we do not have answers but it is good to ask more questions.  This was a fabulous experience and a wonderful way to teach the story in an interactive and creative way which kept the children's interest and wanting to know more. It was important to think about the coloured felt I used and made connections to this in the story too, for example blue for the Baptism of Christ to emphasise the importance of water or black for the death of Christ (in week 2) to represent the sky turning black when Jesus took his last breath. The children kept focussed and could successfully retell the story the following week and weeks after due to the connections of colour, objects and story telling in this manner.

 

How did it develop in school?

Following this lesson, I changed it slightly for the EYFS and Y1. I needed to use something simpler for the younger children who may have not heard the story before, they needed 5 basic parts - Palm Sunday, Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, Death on the Cross and Jesus is Risen. This time I created boxes, decorated the internal parts to match the setting of the 5 parts of the key storyline. I positioned the children in front of the boxes which were turned backwards, the internal of the boxes could not be seen. I lit the candle using the same language as before so they become familiar with the vocabulary and what it represents. The boxes were then turned, one by one and the story would unfold using small wooden characters and objects to dress the scenery one by one. The youngest children at the age of 4 stayed focussed and on-task for the entire storytelling session. Teachers and TAs were engrossed too. The impact was great because the following year, the children could confidently talk about the key events and were ready for the story to be expanded further by year 2.     

 

How has it impacted children's learning?

I now use Godly play teaching in every year group. I experimented using Godly in Year 3 for telling the story of Noah, it was fantastic and they started to ask more 'I wonder...' questions and deepened their understanding of story.

I then used Godly play in Year 4 for Abram, again the same response and they wanted more stories from the Bible. They would ask every lesson if I was going to bring my gold box and they cheered when they saw I had it for the lesson.

http://www.stmichaelschurchschool.co.uk/gallery/?pid=43&gcatid=71

Then the children in Year 5 asked if they could have a 'gold box' lesson. So I told the children a few parable stories at the end of the lessons as a reward for their learning and they were just as engrossed in the storytelling as the children in Reception.

Then 2 weeks before the COVID lockdown they asked if they could create their own Godly play to teach the younger aged children. I prepared all of the resources and told the children to choose a story from the Old Testament using their knowledge from their 'Walk through the Bible' lessons. They had to design, make, create and tell a story using Godly play, asking relevant 'I wonder...' questions and ensure they were telling the story correctly. They all did very successfully, working in mixed ability pairs and the picture evidence shows how the children really thrived and demonstrated good understanding of the stories they chose. It was just very unfortunate that due to the COVID lockdown in March 2020 the children did not get to share their story with the younger pupils. This however is now part of the year 5 planning.

The method of storytelling has now expanded further to being more creative through prayer too. During the COVID lockdown, the RE and Collective Worship programme came together and the children's learning was all about different ways to be creative in prayer. The 'Creative Pray' programme has also been shared with Peterborough CROPs and it is on their website to support other Christians in response to the lockdown situation.  Examples of the school and home learning can be seen below. 

 

How has it impacted adult's practice?

Teaching staff have seen how 'Godly play' is shared and taught in RE learning through a staff meeting as RE is taught during PPA time. 

TAs are often in the classroom during PPA time and witness more of the 'in lesson' teaching however they have also been trained during the TA meetings so all of the school has been part of the 'Godly play' in-house training. 

We also have a TA who is currently on the Initial Teacher Training course and she used Godly play during a recent university observation. The observation was a massive success and they were amazed by how long the children were engrossed in the storytelling and the quality of work they produced as a result of the Godly play.  

 

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