Religious Education/PSHE/SMSC policy
December 2015
OVERVIEW
At Oasis Academy Fir Vale we help all children to develop an understanding of the
place that religion plays in people’s lives and how it has influenced history and the
growth and development of society. We use the Oasis RE Curriculum Development
Project as a basis for our scheme of work and establish meaningful links with the
other subjects of the curriculum. Our aim is to give children the opportunities to
explore questions and answers arising from religion and belief, developing deep
experiential knowledge, in order to promote then well-being of students.
OBJECTIVES
1. To enable children to understand that faith and spirituality is integral to all
other aspects of a healthy life.
2. To give children the opportunity to understand and apply more fully the Oasis
ethos in their everyday experience.
3. To encourage children to ask and explore questions about the meaning and
purpose of life.
4. To develop respect for others and an appreciation of diversity and inclusivity.
5. To understand the core beliefs, values and practices of the Christian faith as
well as the other major world religions, or world views.
6. Prompt students to discover their responsibilities and to see themselves as
active participants and champions of the transformation of attitudes and,
therefore, their communities.
STRATEGIES
1. We will begin the teaching of religious education in Foundation Stage, as an
integral part of the topic work covered during the year. The children will
begin to develop knowledge, skills and understanding of the world by finding
out about festivals, worship and religious stories.
2. As the children move into Key Stage 1 and 2 they will build on their earlier
work using the Oasis RE Curriculum Development Project as the guidelines for
teaching and learning.
3. Strong links will be made with the teaching of other curriculum areas. Stories,
plays and poems from the Bible and other religious and moral sources will be
shared with the children.
4. Religious Education will become a stimulus and a springboard for the
development of speaking and listening, writing and for the development of
thinking and reasoning skills.
5. Children will learn about Christianity and at least two other major world
faiths, as set out in the Oasis RE Curriculum Development Project.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
When appropriate teachers will use first-hand experience, visits, visitors,
artefacts and the local and wider environment to engage children’s interest
and imagination.
Through their understanding of the different faiths and beliefs children will be
encouraged to develop their feelings, empathy and understanding for others.
Through their understanding of Religious Education, learners will be helped to
develop an understanding of the British society in which they live.
Children will learn about the influence of religion, faith and belief on
citizenship and the Law. They will learn about rights and responsibilities, and
about moral, spiritual, social and environmental issues.
We will use financial resources to continue to build up an extensive collection
of resources, artefacts and books which will be organised and stored in an
accessible area by the R.E. lead.
OUTCOMES
Religious Education will be fun as well as informative and will be used to promote
excellence and enjoyment. It will have a strong presence in the ethos of the school
through displays, performances, music, drama and assemblies. Where parents
request that their children be withdrawn from the teaching of Religious Education
other appropriate educational provision will be made for them.
PHSE/SMSC
What does this mean in terms of PSHE Provision in our school?
Personal, Social and Emotional Development –Many of our children require support
in emotional and social development in addition to coming from a background
where education is not championed as a way of helping them to be successful in life.
This leads to issues relating to their independence and aspirations. In order to
counter this the school promotes a focus on independent learning skills in an effort
to encourage active learning and a lifelong thirst for knowledge. In addition
vulnerable children are identified and supported by learning mentors and the
nurture team.
Experiences - Many of our children lack experiences of being regularly taken to
places of interest before they start school. This means that we have to provide more
first-hand experiences than most other schools.
Teaching PHSE - We follow the SEALS scheme of work on a two year rolling
programme which incorporates the PSHE association scheme of work for SRE and
drugs and alcohol education, British Values and cultural events. (See Key Stage
overview). Each class has a daily PHSE lesson.
Within our long term PHSE plan we incorporate the 5 Oasis Ethos’
Ethos 1 – A passion to include everyone.
Ethos 2 – A desire to treat everyone equally.
Ethos 3 – Healthy relationships.
Ethos 4 - A deep sense of hope.
Ethos 5 – Perseverance
And 9 habits:
Joyful
Compassionate
Considerate
Patient
Honest
Forgiving
Humble
Hopeful
Self-control
ASSEMBLIES
Each Friday we hold a whole school celebration assembly, we celebrate children’s
work and attendance.
Once a week we hold Key Stage Ethos and 9 Habit assemblies in accordance with
Oasis guidance.