Religious Education
Every religion emphasises human improvement, love, respect for others and sharing people's suffering. On these lines, every religion has more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal.
- Dalai Lama
Vision
Religious Education (RE) at Penwortham provides all children with an understanding and awareness all of the different religions, particularly those that are reflective of the school community. Learning experiences develop pupils' knowledge and promote the virtues of respect, tolerance and empathy.
To learn more about our vision for RE please click the image below:
What do the children learn and when?
All Wandsworth schools follow the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) which is a document advising how RE should be taught in schools. The RE curriculum at Penwortham has been sequenced to support the delivery of the Wandsworth SACRE teaching guidance.
Please click the link below to see the progression map for RE
How do we teach RE?
The entry point for each religion of focus starts with an assessment whereby the children answer the following questions:
What do I know already?
What would I like to know?
We then plan our lessons around the responses to these questions and match this with the objectives from the RE Progression Map. Where possible, RE lessons are child-led (planned and delivered); teachers are the facilitators in order for the RE curriculum to be covered accurately and in depth. To end a topic, students will complete the exit point which will summarise, answer any questions and clarify any misconceptions.
Cross curricular
To further deepen the children’s learning, our curriculum compliments RE in other subjects:
Enrichment Opportunities
Penwortham RE trips and experiences cover a wide range of religions, particularly those reflective of the school community.
- Year 1 - St James' West Streatham Church, Christianity
- Year 2 - Tooting Gurdwara, Sikhism
- Year 3 - Visitor in school, Hinduism
- Year 4 - Buddhpadipa Temple, Buddhism
- Year 5 - Wimbledon Synagogue, Judaism
- Year 6 - London Central Mosque, Islam
- KS2 - Visit from a Humanist speaker
- Whole school - Church visit for Nativity
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Our learning
Spring 2: Islam
We hosted our annual Eid Bazaar on the 18th April, which was a fantastic community event. Some pupils in Year 6 took to the stage to talk about Eid and what it means to them. There was wonderful food and activities for the children such as mendhi and a bouncy castle.
During the event, our Rights Respecting Steering Committee ran a collection for the UNICEF Children of Gaza Appeal, raising over £200 for the cause.
Year 6 visited the London Central Mosque and had the opportunity to learn about the main features of a Mosque and how Muslims pray. They were able to ask questions about Islam.
Spring 1: Judaism
In Year 3 the children learnt about the differences and similarities between Judaism and Christianity and addressed misconceptions.
Year 1 learnt about Passover and made a Matzah pizza. They shared it like the Jewish special dinner of Seder.
Autumn 2 : Christianity
The children researched how Christianity is followed around the world. They compared the beliefs of different denominations.
They also looked at why music and singing is an important part of Christianity, looking at the purpose and meanings behind ‘hymns’.
Autumn 1: Hinduism
We had a great time learning all about Hinduism!
Here’s what we got up to in our lessons about Hinduism:
Ilya taught her class about puja, a type of prayer that Hindus would do in their home.
Scan the QR Code to watch Diya explaining how she performs a puja prayer at home:
Year 6 also learnt the significance of a form of religious expression called ‘Garba’ which celebrates goddesses and women.
Year 2 created their own Diva lamps with clay and decorated them.
Summer 2
In Summer 2 the our RE learning focused on Buddhism and Humanism. Children learnt about the Ten Commitments of Humanism and about Buddhist pilgrimages.
Summer 1
During Summer 1 the children focused on Sikhism. Some of our pupils lead the learning in their classes by sharing their experiences.
Year 2 learnt about Langar and had their own Langar by sharing their homemade roti with the year group. 
Spring 2
In Spring 2, the children learnt about Islam. Year 6 visited the London Central Mosque for a day of immersive religious education.
Year 5 interviewed one of their teaching assistants to learn about the teachings of Islam in relation to life and identity.
Spring 1
During Spring 1 children across the school learnt about Judaism. They made comparisons to the religions covered previously this year and built on their learning from the previous academic year using their journals.
Year 5 focused on Islam to make curriculum links to their History topic, Early Islamic Civilisation.
What children say about RE in Penwortham
