Religion & World Views
What do Religion & World Views lessons look like?
As a Devon Local Authority School, Bluecoat follows the Devon agreed RE Syllabus. Providing examples of content, lesson suggestions and a comprehensive coverage map, this ensures that the teaching of Religion and World Views across the school remains consistent and relevant. A concise version of the document (including coverage map) is available below.
As well as following the Devon Syllabus for RE, teachers make the most of opportunities to link their teaching of R&WV to other areas of the curriculum, paying particular attention to our Global Partnership links with other schools around the world.
Devon and Torbay Agreed Syllabus 2019 - 2024.pdfWhat other religions do the children learn about?
Although we're a Church of England school, at Bluecoat we know that with education and understanding comes respect and tolerance. With a focus on Christianity, the Devon RE Syllabus also ensures adequate coverage across a range of different religions, with a broad spectrum across the academic year:
Chapter 1: The children in Chapter 1 learn about Christianity as well as discovering more about their own place in the community. They begin to understand that there are other faiths and may mark some special occasions celebrated in non Christian calendars.
Chapter 2: In Chapter 2, children learn in depth about Christianity, Judaism and Islam. They make inter-faith links and begin to notice common themes and stories.
Chapter 3: Once the children move in to Chapter 3 they discover more about Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. They explore the connections between the faiths and are encouraged to ask questions and talk openly about their beliefs.
Getting out and about in the community
As well as offering a rich and engaging R&WV curriculum, we take pride in providing our children with real life, hands on experiences to complement their studies in the classroom.
Festival Experiences
Terry Insull at St Michael's and All Angels Church, Torrington organises visits throughout the year for each year group. These were sadly unable to take place during the pandemic which was a real loss but we are thrilled to be recommencing these visits from this year.
Year 2 - Harvest Experience
Year 3 - Christmas Experience
Year 4 - Easter Experience
Year 5 - Pentecost Experience
Every year, Year 2 visit St Michael's church in the summer term to look at the features of a church while Year 4 visit Torrington Baptist church to look at the baptism pool and learn about how the church supports the local community, including the Foodbank that is situated there.
When the children reach Year 3 they have the opportunity to go travel further afield and visit both Exeter Cathedral and Exeter Mosque. They are able to draw similarities and differences between the two religions; meet with different religious leaders; hear an Islamic call to prayer; and ask questions which delve deeply in to the two religions. The trip is always hugely well received and a real high point in the academic calendar.
Our Outstanding Work
The Bluecoat Group have been learning about The Creation Story
Celebrating Diwali in Reception
RH learnt about Diwali. They had the opportunity to try on some traditional Indian clothes and learn some Indian dancing.
Making Easter Gardens
The children in Reception celebrated Easter by making their very own Easter Gardens.