Progression in language, vocabulary and key ideas: a summary of a select shortlist of keywords and core concepts. This table shows how learning across the age groups develops and uses the language of religious study and of particular religions in increasing depth and complexity. There is an online glossary for each religion to accompany this summary page. The selected terminology is a brief suggested minimum that might feature in the planning of RE and can contribute to coherent progression. Do your pupils know and use this many religious words at the appropriate age? This approach is informed by OFSTED’s interest in ambitious curriculum, rich knowledge, sequencing and progression in thinking and substantive knowledge.
| Reception Curiosity+ experience | 5-7s: Exploring and discovering | 7-9s: Knowing and understanding (adding to 4-7 lists) | 9-11s Understanding and connecting | 11-14s: Applying, interpreting, appreciating and appraising (adding to KS2 lists) | |
| The general language of religious study | Religion Special books Special places Special stories Prayer | Religion, celebration, festival, symbol, thankful, faith, belief, wise sayings, rules for living, co- operation, belonging, worship, holiness, sacred. creation story. | Religion, spiritual, commitment, values, prayer, pilgrim, pilgrimage, ritual, symbol, community, worship, devotion, belief, life after death, destiny, soul, inspiration, role-model | Religion, harmony, respect, justice, faith, inter-faith, tolerance, moral values, religious plurality, moral codes, holiness, spiritual, inspiration, vision, symbol, community, commitment, values, sources of wisdom, spiritual, Golden Rule, charity, place of worship, sacred text, devotion, prayer, worship, compassion. | Religion, beliefs, teachings, sources of authority, religious expression, ways of living, religious identity, diversity and controversy, psychology, sociology and philosophy of religion, ethics, community cohesion, religious conservatism, liberalism and radicalism. |
| Christianity | Christmas Easter Bible Church Jesus | Christian, God, Creator, Christmas, Easter, Jesus, church, altar, font, Bible, gospel, Holy Spirit, baptism, Christening | Christian, Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Harvest Festival, Messiah, liturgy, church, Gospel, Jesus, Holy Spirit God the Creator, Trinity, Heaven | Christian, Jesus, Bible, Creation and Fall, Gospel, Letters of Saint Paul, Trinity, Incarnation, Holy Spirit, resurrection, Christmas, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, Eucharist, agape, advent, disciple, | Biblical authority and inspiration, intelligent design, theology, Christian ethics, ‘Just war’, sanctity of life, ‘green Christianity’, Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Free Church, ecumenism, creed, liturgy, reconciliation, Virgin Birth, prophecy. |
| Judaism | Moses Passover Torah Synagogue Star of David | Jewish, synagogue, Torah, bimah, Hanukkah, Ark, Judaism, shabbat, Joseph. | Jewish, Judaism, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Exodus, Law-giver, Ten Commandments, Passover / Pesach, Day of Atonement. | Judaism, Jewish, Torah, Shabbat, Pesach, Hanukkah, Ten Commandments, persecution, prejudice, Beth Shalom, remembrance, patriarch, Jacob, Ruth, King David, King Solomon, Esther, Purim, Prophet, Isaiah, Daniel. | Tenakh, Mishnah, midrash, Havdalah, Chuppah, Kabbalah, Messiah, Noachide Laws, Yom Hashoah, Yom Kippur, Zionism, liberal, reform, Orthodox, Shema, shofar, shul. |
| Islam | Allah, Prophet Muhammad, Qur’an, Mosque | Muslim, Islam, Allah, Prophet, mosque, Eid, Qur’an, moon and star. | Muslim, Islam, Allah, Prophet, mosque, Qur’an, moon and star, paradise. | Muslim, Allah, Prophethood, Ummah, 5 Pillars, Prophet Muhammad, Iman (faith), akhlaq (character or moral conduct) Qur’an, Hadith, Sunnah, Mosque, Hajj, al-fatihah, adhan, | Last Prophet, Revelation, Shahadah, Sawm, Zakat, Ramadan, Hajj, submission to Allah, Sunni, Shi’a, Sufi, 99 Beautiful Names, Bismillah, Hijrah, Hafiz, Ihram, Shirk, Sunnah, surah, tawhid |
| Hindu Dharma | Hindu, mandir, divali, Aum | Murtis, gods and goddesses, puja, home shrine, devotion. Ganesha | Hindu dharma, Sanatan Dharma, Rama, Sita, Hanuman, holi, Raksha bandhan | Ahimsa, karma, dharma, Brahman, mandir, trimurti, gods such as Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, goddesses such as Durga, Ambaji, Shakti reincarnation, aarti, devotee, | Bhagavad Gita, atman, karma, dharma, moksha, ashram, ahimsa, yoga, Mahabharata, mandala, maya, varna, jati. |
| Sikhi | Sikh, Guru Nanak, Gurdwara, Guru Granth Sahib | Sikhi, Langar, 10 Gurus, Vaisakhi, | The 5 Ks, the Khalsa, Kaur and Singh, Guru Govind Singh, Panj Piara | Waheguru, Harimandir Sahib, Amrit, Panj Kakke, Kirpan, Kacchera, Kanga, Kara, Kesh Khanda, Sangat, Karah Prasad. | Nam Simran, Vand Chakna, Sewa, Gurmukh, Hukam, Haumai, Ik Onkar, Rehat Maryada, Mul Mantar, Amritdhari. |
| Buddhism | Buddha, shrine, temple (vihara) | Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Wesak, Siddhartha Gautama, | Meditation, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the Four Sights, Enlightenment | Meditation, Kathina, The Four Noble Truths, Boddhisatva | Enlightenment, Dukkha, Karuna, Noble Eightfold Path, Nirvana, Mahayana, Theravada, Vajrayana, Zen, Triratna. |
| Non- religious worldviews | Non-religious | Humanist, Golden Rule, non-religious, worldview. | Humanist, Golden Rule, non- religious, spiritual but not religious, atheist, ethics | Atheist, agnostic, Humanist, rationalist, Golden Rule, ‘spiritual but not religious’, secular, rationalist. | Varieties of atheism, ‘new atheists’, skepticism, ethical autonomy, situation ethics, secular, secularist, pluralist atheists, anti- theists. |
This suggested concept development plan for RE is a very basic tool; using the key words specified here might follow a plan where 3 religions are studied 5-7 and 4 each in KS2 and 3. Teachers do not have to teach all these words for all these religions. The lists are cumulative – begin on the left and move right. The key question here is not ‘do the pupils know the words?’ but ‘Can the pupils use the language and ideas of religions and religious study to explain their understanding?
Expectations, Progression and Achievement in Religious Education Good assessment practice
In RE, by the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant program of study, as in all other subjects of the curriculum. The expectation is that pupils’ achievements will be weighed up by teachers using criteria arising from the programs of study. This statement is also included in the programs of study for each subject of the National Curriculum.
Schools have, in this Agreed Syllabus, a curriculum and assessment framework that meets the set of core principles offered by the DfE. Subject leaders for RE should also plan particular ways of describing achievement and progress for all pupils, using the outcomes specified for RE in this syllabus.
In the light of these DfE principles as they relate to RE, the Agreed Syllabus offers answers to 5 key questions, addressed in the coming pages. The ‘Eight Steps Up’ approach to assessment here has continuities with the previous Level Scales, but is simpler, briefer and less prescriptive.
My View of the Journey of Life by Rhiarna (13)
This picture is featuring two paths of life that everyone walks. It is depicting the Christian world view of the journey of life. The two paths represent two major choices; life and death
I portrayed a burning city which is dark and threatening.
In contrast to the path of sin is the path of righteousness. This path and gate are narrow
I have drawn the path winding instead of straight because it often is not an easy path to follow Christ, sometimes there is persecution and hatred of the followers of Jesus. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:10
The cross in this picture represents the lifestyle that embraces the cross of Jesus Christ and all of its meaning.
There are praying hands, as the believer communicates to God in this way.
I have drawn the grass bright as the Bible talks about lying down in green pastures (Psalm 23). It also represents peace. However the focal point is the mansion which represents heaven. Most people are unaware that they have this choice to make, now you know, what choice will you make?
Question 1: What steps within an assessment framework enable pupils to reach or exceed the end of key stage expectations in the RE curriculum? What assessment methods are needed?
Rich knowledge: Concepts to be understood
While this list of concepts bears a close relation to previous versions of RE curriculum guidance (e.g. the QCA National Non Statutory RE Framework of 2004, the 2013 RE Council Framework, the Rotherham RE Syllabus of 2015), the concepts are listed above to provide a checklist of areas in which pupils will make progress in RE and to guide syllabus makers in developing appropriate statements of attainment for different groups of pupils. This task will require further work and consultation in the RE community.
Rich knowledge: Gaining and deploying skills
The program of study also identifies progression in skills across the 5-14 age range. In relation to the religions and world views they study, pupils are increasingly enabled to develop both their knowledge and understanding and their expression and communication through the skills which they gain and deploy.
While the program of study makes clear the skills which are expected of learners at the end of each key stage, progress towards these outcomes will need careful planning in programs of study.
The progression in understanding and skills that the programs of study envisage are made explicit in the three summary pyramid diagrams on the next page6. These are presented for syllabus users to consider as they approach for themselves the tasks of describing progression in RE and designing instruments that will enable fair, valid and manageable assessment for learning in RE. The pyramids relate closely to the three areas of aims for RE which this curriculum framework provides.
It is often good practice to look for pupils’ work to demonstrate the outcomes first in an emerging form, second by meeting the expectations, and then third by exceeding expectations. Teachers may find it helpful to express this as ‘emerging understanding, secure understanding, developed understanding’ as pupils move towards the outcomes. Time is needed for pupils to consolidate and embed their learning before moving to the next steps.
