York SACRE has a statutory responsibility to monitor provision for Religious Education in the city. SACRE can use this information to make recommendations to City of York Council about the strengths and weaknesses of that provision, how good practice might be shared and what support might be offered. Subject leaders are requested to complete this proforma and return it to the maxine.squire@york.gov.uk
School self-evaluation: key questions
What are the strengths of your current provision and practice?
The RE has good coverage of a variety of religions and the SACRE units have been put in an order considering progression. We have good links with the Christian group YO- YO and they support enhancing the RE lessons.
Where are there weaknesses/areas for improvement?
I would like to make more links with visitors that we could have in school to support the learning about religions other than Christianity. I think that having visitors in school helps bring the learning to life. I have also just precise the units planned for us which seemed very good on the training that I attended and will hopefully help to make lessons more engaging.
Do you have an example of good practice you would like to share with others?
If so, please provide details below.
What are your priorities for development in RE? Please provide a list or attach your current development plan
1) Ensure full coverage of the new SACRE for 2021-2026 and support staff with changes to the curriculum.
2) Develop links with local religious groups to give children experiences of a range of religions.
3) Priorities and order resources to support the teaching of RE within the £100 budget.
Is there anything related to RE for which you would like external support?
It would be helpful to have recommendations of visitors who could come in and enhance learning.
Quality and standards of RE in the school
How does the school make a
judgment on this?
(e.g. monitoring, lesson observation, work scrutiny, meeting with
pupils, learning walks …)
At the moment we have used planning scrutiny and observations of online lessons. We plan to complete more lesson observations and learning walks now that COVID safety measures are easing.
Overall, how would you grade the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in your school?
Good
Continuing professional development in RE
What CPD has the subject leader taken part in (over the last year) and what was its impact?
I attended the Agreed Syllabus for RE (2021-2026) for York launch and the training with it. This was really excellent and gave me so many ideas and gave me a clear overview of good practice in R.E.
What CPD have other teachers taken part in (over the last year) and what was its impact?
Staff have not had formal training but from my training, I was able to filter through ideas to staff and share ideas for good practice. I have also shared the units planned for everyone and I will be supporting teachers with using this. The training enabled me to create long term plans for the school which ensured progression and full coverage of the curriculum.
Do you have links with a
local group of teachers?
I have joined the York NATRE
group.
Timetabling of RE
Is provision for RE combined with another subject e.g. PSHEe, Citizenship? (Yes (please explain below)/No)
Y1-6 RE is taught as a lesson on its own. EYFS have the units of key questions but teach it as part of their topics and provision time. They covered it as part of the new EYFS framework as understanding of the world (people, culture and communities) rather than as a set RE lesson.
RE is also brought into PSHE when appropriate and assemblies often cover celebrations from different religions.
How much time does each pupil spend on RE-related work each week on average?
EYFS: It is harder to say for EYFS because it is integrated into the EYFS framework, rather than taught as a stand alone topic. Maybe 20 minutes a week approximately.
KS1: An hour a week for approximately 5 weeks each half term.
KS2: An hour a week for approximately 5 weeks each half term.
Who delivers the RE in your school? Please describe any diversity between classes and year groups if appropriate
(Class teacher/HLTA/TA/PPA teacher/other please specify) Class teacher.
If your
school is an Academy, have you chosen to adopt the York SACRE
Syllabus?
Yes/No
If you answered ‘No’ to question 15 above, please tell SACRE which syllabus you have chosen to adopt
Does your
curriculum and provision meet the requirements of the Agreed
Syllabus*
*This question relates to the SYLLABUS -not the scheme of
work)?
Yes/No/Partly –
If not yes, then please explain how you intend to address
this.
Please attach a long-term plan/curriculum map that shows how you deliver RE across the school/school year?
Please see attached.
How does the SoW ensure
progression between the key stages?
- In respect of subject knowledge?
The units have been arranged so that time is allowed to check knowledge and build on learning. For example KS1 look at ‘Who is a Christian and what do they believe?’ which is then built on in on the Y3/4 topic ‘What does it mean to be a Christian in Britain?’ and then Y5/6 topic ‘ What would Jesus do? (Can we live by the values of Jesus in the 21st century?)’
EYFS and KS1 mainly focus on Musleums, Jews and Christians. This is continued and built on in KS2 and Hindus are also added to the religions studied.
- In the development of skills?
Each year group covers the skills of expressing, believing and living so that these offer a clear structure for learning and build on what has gone before. Using the SACRE units, allows us to clearly build up the skills the children are developing. We have also jus bought the units planned for us and I am hoping that this will really help staff plan exciting and engaging lessons.
Resources
Are the
resources sufficient to support the RE
programme? Yes/No
Are there any resources that you would recommend to other schools?
Are there any resources that you are lacking?
I would really like to
precise the persona dolls and think that they would be a real
enhancement to the curriculum. I will buy some with my budget this
year but I know they are quite expensive.
Please
list below the contact details for any visitors you use to support
RE that you’d recommend to
others?
YO-YO to support
Christian content.
Marion
Barella: marion@yoyotrust.or.uk
Please list below the contact details for any places you use to
visit to support RE that you’d recommend to
others?
Management and Organisation of
RE
No. of students on roll …265.
Name of subject leader:
Katy Loose (Laura Drake has just started being a co-leader of RE a couple of weeks ago.)
How long
as subject leader in this school:
|
1 year |
2 years |
3 years |
4 years |
5+ years |
Other comments/notes (Continue overleaf if necessary)