Big Ideas Curriculum for Key Stage 4
A fully planned and resourced curriculum covers Islam and Christianity at GCSE. It supports the Beliefs and Practices questions (Paper 1). The complete resource is available here.
RE in a broad and balanced curriculum: A practical tool
This resource supports schools to consider the intent of their school curriculum and the place of RE within this. It takes a multi-disciplinary approach. Available here.
Ofsted Framework (2019) and Subject Research Review (2021)
Significant changes took place in the way schools are inspected in 2019. Details of this can be found in Ofsted’s 2019 School Inspection Handbook (Ofsted, May 2019, No. 190017).
All subjects are required to think about the purpose of learning, or the intent of the curriculum. In considering the criteria and what it will mean for RE in your school, this would be an excellent opportunity to discuss with your team about the purpose of RE.
Inspectors will consider how well teachers and students can explain why they are studying RE.
The Framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework/education-inspection-framework
The Ofsted Research Review: religious education published in May 2021, sets out:
- The national context in relation to RE
- A review of research into factors that can affect the quality of education in RE
- Curriculum progression in RE, pedagogy, assessment and the impact of school leaders’ decisions on provision.
The review is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-religious-education
Free self-study courses
Culham St Gabriel’s offers two free self study courses on curriculum
Introduction to Curriculum This course offers an understanding of what curriculum is and the central role it plays in education. It is a basic introduction to the purpose of the curriculum, the role of knowledge in the curriculum, progression and subject specialism in Religion and Worldviews. It is aimed at teachers, but others might find it useful and interesting, such as governors, SACRE members or educational researchers. It takes between approximately one hour and 90 minutes in total. You can pause and return to your work at any time.