Introduction
Justine Ball, HIAS Inspector/Adviser for primary RE, writes:
We have been looking at ways to help teachers with planning and ideas in the Primary RE Steering Group that are free of charge.
One thing that has already been done is to provide the first ever twilight RE network group, held at the RE centre once a term from 4 until 6.00 pm. To book, access your LMS and search for course Primary RE network, or email HTLC.Courses@hants.gov.uk. Why not come along and join us? It is very relaxed and delegates have commented upon how peaceful yet productive the atmosphere is and how useful they have found the sessions.
Another decision the Primary RE Steering Group made was to provide medium term plans free of charge for Foundation stage and Key Stage 2. After much discussion, the concept of looking forward was chosen for Foundation Stage with a focus on how this meets your Early Learning Goals, contributes to SMSC while also helping children think about moving on to Year 1. It builds on children’s knowledge of We’re going on a Bear Hunt, which many children are extremely familiar with already in Foundation Stage and contextualises this with the story of the Prodigal son in Christianity and how the father and son both looked forward to the years ahead.
The second medium term plan provided is on the concept of neighbour. This was chosen after much discussion about the challenges that 2019 might bring in teaching, especially in regard to Brexit and the discussions around this in the school community. The plan looks at what a neighbour is and who might be our neighbour, as well as the areas we all have in common. The Contextualise step focuses on the Christian understanding of neighbour with a consideration of the story of the Good Samaritan and children are asked to rewrite a version of this for modern times.
The third medium term plan provided is by Sophie Etheridge at St Mary's Church of England School. Her concept is the Good Life from the humanist perspective. Sophie trialled this plan with her children at the school as part of her Masters studies and it has been very well received by other schools.
The fourth medium term plan provided is on the concept of courage. This was chosen to provide teachers with a selection of stories from the Old Testament that would deepen children's knowledge about the Old Testament and provide a focus on a new concept for them.
We are keen to help in any way we can and therefore if there are areas that you would like the group to provide support on, please email me on justine.ball@hants.gov.uk