Intent for KS1 to KS4

Iceni Academy have planned a robust and challenging curriculum to help students understand the multicultural diverse world we live in.  Through the Norfolk Syllabus’ lenses of theology, philosophy and human and social sciences, we aim to allow children to learn and reflect about major world religions and world-views; encouraging them to explore how religions can affect the fabric of personal and social life and how it can define a culture.

We actively follow the Norfolk Agreed Syllabus (2019), teaching the six main world religions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism alongside Humanism (a non-religious worldview).  In Key Stage One, children mainly learn about Christianity, Islam and Judaism with the three other religions being taught as a periphery.  Key Stage Two, teaches all six religions with equal weighting focusing even more on the lenses of theology, philosophy and human social sciences.  Children are taught in depth knowledge of different faiths and world views in order to use their skills of exploration, comparison and debate to work towards becoming religiously literate.  In Key Stage Three, students focus on three academic disciplines: theology, philosophy and human/social sciences.  In order for students to be religiously literate, a balance of these three disciplines is adopted as well as an in-depth investigation of Christianity and two other principal world religions (Islam, Judaism) plus encountering at least one other religion or worldview.

In the span of the three years, all students will have at least a foundation understanding of all of the six main world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism).

Where possible, trips are planned to the synagogue, cathedral and mosque and visitors are invited in to share their experiences.  Assemblies are held celebrating different religions/festivals and cross key stage trips are planned to be a new addition to our curriculum offer at Iceni Academy.  Special celebrations such as Chinese New Year, Diwali, Christmas and Hanukah are also taught and celebrated as part of the curriculum.  We attempt to satisfy curiosity about different world views; exploring how different commitments to faith and humanity can contribute to a better world for all; ensuring that all pupils become religiously literate in their understanding of the theological world around them.  We aim to tackle many issues including interpretations around evil, injustice and suffering alongside goodness, Godliness and enlightenment.  At Iceni, we encourage teachers to use a variety of teaching approaches, such as discussion, debate, music, art, literature and ICT to explore different questions around faith and humanism.

For assessment, we use a combination of the Norfolk’s age-related expectations in the three main strands of theology, philosophy and human and social sciences alongside the end of key stage non-negotiable expectations (written below) to monitor progression across the key stages and to ensure progression.