Religious Studies at Orchard Meadow

Our Intent

The Religious Education Curriculum at Orchard Meadow aims to promote the spiritual, moral and cultural development of its pupils. By investigating major religions and worldviews through varied learning experiences, approaches and disciplines, we are preparing our pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

Through our drivers and key questions, pupils will be able to reflect upon and express their own ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of world religions, as well as gain and apply the skills needed to respond to religions and worldviews in an informed, respectful and rational way. This curriculum will provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs in God, issues of right and wrong, and ultimately what it means to be human.

Our Religious Studies curriculum aligns with Oxfordshire County Council's Religious Education Curriculum Framework. 

As with all subjects in the Orchard Meadow Curriculum, choices about content have been carefully considered and 'stress-tested' against our curriculum drivers. 

Local context is also important as we passionately believe pupils should have knowledge of the religions and beliefs prevalent in their immediate and wider community. Therefore, pupils share and experience the festivals, places of worship and stories of the religions shared by their classmates (Nursery and Reception), then place these in a broader national and international context (Y1-Y6). Throughout, opportunities are explored to experience and interrogate beliefs of others' through visits to and from school and via the Orchard Meadow Pledge. 

See a summary of what Orchard Meadow pupils study in R.E. below:

A key goal of our curriculum is to create critical learners who question and challenge views with knowledge and compassion, and have the ability to identify their own prejudices and subconscious biases. They will seek alternate views and relish opportunities to engage with those who have different experiences to them as a source of enrichment. 

Implementing our vision

Please click here to view our Religious Studies Overview to find out more about what our pupils study and how curriculum content is mapped against core Religious Studies skills;

Our Religious Studies Roadmap shows how content is built progressively;

And, or Religious Studies Progression Document shows how skills build over year groups from Nursery to Year 6. 

We are committed to delivering our curriculum effectively against the 5C's: content, creativity, compassion, community and cohesion. See the individual unit plans ('5C's documents') below which detail lesson content, core and deepening skills and how each unit is linked to our drivers and enquiry questions. Knowledge Organisers summarise key learning and are shared with pupils and parents at the start and end of the unit.