Religious Education for children and students with severe or profound learning difficulties.
Produced by Downs View School, with the aid of
The Farmington Institute Specials Needs Millennium Award.
Downs View School, Warren Road, Woodingdean, Brighton, BN2 6BB. Tel: (01273) 601680. Fax: (01273) 699420.
Headteacher: Jane Reed. RE Coordinator: Steve Myall.
May 2001.
Introductory Notes:
This scheme of work covers the UK's six principal religions, which will be found in the following key stages- (The links below will load a MS Word document)
KS1 - Christianity and Judaism.
KS3 - Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.
KS4 - Christianity, Judaism and Sikhism.
A few early infant activities, to introduce some concepts of religious education, are briefly listed at the beginning of KS1, but they are not expanded as they already fall within the practice of most SLD classrooms. Similarly, the classic RE activities of visiting a mosque, visiting a synagogue etc., are not included here as all schools already have such ideas included in their RE schemes of work.
Religious Education includes the cross-curricular themes of PSHE and Citizenship. For example, belonging to groups and communities, understanding the difference between right and wrong, sharing feelings and experiences with others, asking other people what they think, and experiencing times of stillness and reflection. These themes also fall outside the intent of this scheme of work.
The main purpose of this document is to familiarise the non-specialist teacher with aspects of belief and tradition from the six main faiths found in the UK, and to suggest lessons and activities which will enable children to experience these beliefs and traditions.
Some of the activities are preceded by art and craft lessons, as part of the preparation for the RE content.
Many of the lessons and activities will fit into a 20 or 30 minute slot, as an RE ending for the day. As such, they could easily form the curriculum time required for Religious Education.
Some could be adapted for assemblies, or for activities joining two classes together.
Do look around the key stages, other than your own, as you may find adaptable activities.