RE
R.E. Subject Leader - Ellen Ramsey
Vision for RE
At Oatlands Junior School Religious Education encourages pupils to explore their own beliefs, values and traditions and those of others in meaningful and engaging ways. Pupils share their diverse range of experiences and grow individually and together with sensitivity and respect towards people of all faiths and none. Through high quality learning experiences we enable children to explore beliefs, investigate moral and ethical issues, appreciate diverse viewpoints and celebrate diversity (SMSC).
How is RE taught and what does it look like at OJS?
RE is taught through a one hour lesson per week here at Oatlands Junior School. Each year group will cover four units throughout the academic year, building upon their knowledge and learning of Christianity - year on year - as well as learning about other religions such as:
- Islam
- Hinduism
- Judaism
- Humanist
This is achieved through a variety of whole-class teaching, group activities and individual tasks. Within these lessons, students will be given the opportunity to consolidate and extend their knowledge as well as use religious texts and artefacts within lessons.
What will your children leave OJS knowing, understanding and appreciating in RE?
By the end of your child's time here with us at Oatlands Junior School, they will have has a rich and varied experience through the teaching and learning of RE.
Children can confidently identify and understand the beliefs and followings of different religions, understand what it means to be a member of different religions in Britain today and use different artefacts and texts that are common for a variety of religions.
Year by year, children will build upon their knowledge of Christianity, making connections between other religions and their own beliefs.
What do pupils at OJS think about RE?
'We get to learn about different countries and religions.' - pupil in Year 3
'I like learning about Hinduism and other cultures. I particularly enjoyed making ability cards for the lovely Hindu Gods.' - pupil in Year 4
'That you get to learn about different religions.' - pupil in Year 5
'I like learning about really interesting religious traditions' - pupil in Year 6
2020-2021
Easter at OJS
This week we have been completing some fantastic work about Easter and learning about why it is such an important festival for the Christian faith. We have been learning about Holy Week in art and our own research, creating Easter poems about the Easter story and thinking about how Mary felt on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Here is a sample of our brilliant work.
Remembrance Day 2020
This week in our RE lesson, we have been looking at Remembrance Day and what it means to us now. We have written prayers, discovered who some of the First World War soldiers were in our local area, create a memorial design for a local Second World War veteran, Brian Lane, and made the symbol of remembrance, the poppy. Here is a selection of our excellent work.
Harvest Festival
Whilst we have not been able to celebrate Harvest Festival in the usual way at OJS, during the children's RE lessons this week we have completed some great work to celebrate and learn all about Harvest Festival. Year 3 have completed some lovely acrostic poems all about Harvest, Year 4 have learnt all about where food comes from and shown this on a labelled map, Year 5 have learnt about the traditions of Harvest Festival to create detailed fact files and Year 6 have been learning about the sustainability of food, especially between the continents of the world. Here are some examples of the fabulous work we have completed this week.
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
2019-2020
Harvest Festival Assembly
2018-2019
Jaynie Kendall Assembly
Reverend Ben assembly
Summer Term - Islam
Jaynie Kendall
On Thursday it was a pleasure to welcome back Jaynie Kendall from the Nidd Valley Methodist Church Circuit. She gave a fantastic assembly with the theme of following. Jaynie told the children an exciting version of the story of the Miraculous Catch of Fish, with volunteers helping from the audience, which revealed Jesus to Peter after his resurrection. The children were able to reflect on what following meant to them and the kind of people, examples and dreams they may wish to follow. A big thank you to Jaynie for the fantastic assembly.
Reverend Kim Assembly
Jaynie Kendall Assembly
Spring Term
Dan Watts - acts of kindness
Jaynie Kendall - Perseverance
It was wonderful to welcome back Jaynie Kendall for her first assembly of the New Year. Her assembly had a great message all about perseverance. Jaynie shared the powerful and inspiring story of British Olympic athlete Derek Redmond and spoke about how her faith helped her to persevere.
St Mark’s Christmas Concert
On Tuesday many of you joined us for our annual concert at St Mark’s; it was a fantastic evening and we are proud of the children at Oatlands for their musical talents. The children in the Arts Committee spoke confidently as they shared their Christmas wishes and we were entertained by the audience participation on The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Thank you to all those who donated to our charity – Martin House Hospice - during the collection. We received a generous £529.16 – thank you!
Secret Christmas Shop
A big thank you to everyone who supported the PTA and School Council Secret Christmas Shop on Friday 14th December. Lots of fun was had, both by the children and the PTA running the shop and by the children doing the shopping! At the last count, a fantastic profit of £266 was made. All of this profit will be donated to the Harrogate Homeless Project. A representative from the charity is coming to visit us in early January, when we will present them with the money.
We are hoping to choose another charity to support in the Spring term with a different fund-raising venture, this time led by the Lower School Council members and the PTA. Details to follow in the new year.
Christmas Display
World War One Centenary Event
Rev. Ben Clowes and Jaynie Kendall Respect assembly
Remembrance Assembly with Colonel Crossland
Harvest Festival
2017-2018
Final assembly from Matt Lunn
On Tuesday 3rd July, we had our final assembly from Matt Lunn. Over the years, he has given many excellent assemblies at Oatlands Junior School. They have always been interesting, had a clear message and most of all the children have enjoyed them. He is leaving to take up a new position in London, with which we wish him the best of luck.
Mr Moore
Year 5 synagogue trip
On Tuesday the 26th of June 2018 group 1 went down to the Harrogate Synagogue on St Mary’s Walk. Michael was our guide and told us many interesting things about the synagogue and Judaism. Things like each Torah scroll is hand written costs around about £35,000 each! There was a pointing stick so when you read out the Hebrew you do not touch the parchment. In Hebrew the pointing stick is called a yad. It was a very interesting experience and the first time many of us had ever visited a synagogue.
Amelie Hyder and Ollie Holdsworth 5M
Cultural Event
On the final day of the Spring term the whole school took part in a Cultural Event. We learnt more about what makes up cultures, including religion, food, music, language and much more. Each class had a different culture they learnt about as well as a fun dance or craft activity. Children signed up to different classes and later in the day returned to their usual class to share what they had found out. Here’s what was going on in each class. 3H Brazil – Carnival. 3M Caribbean – Fruits and Foods. 3/4K South Africa – dance. 4H Japan – Calligraphy. 4G Hawaii – Flower leis. 5M New Zealand – Haka. 5T Australia – Aboriginal Art. 5/6C India – Bollywood Dancing. 6FW Iceland – Designing mythical creatures. 6M China – craft. 6G Native American Art and Language.
Year 3 trip to St. Marks Church
New Year Assembly
Christmas Displays
Advent Assembly
Lilly shares her Hanukkah experiences
Lilly's (4H Falcons) family celebrate Hanukkah, which begins on 12th December and lasts for 8 days. She explained about some of the customs that she and her family enjoy over Hanukkah and shared a prayer in Hebrew with us.
Poppy Competition
Well done to the following children who designed a winning poppy from each class. They were presented with a poppy pen in Celebration Assembly this morning, by Ted Crossland. Thank you to Ted’s dad who organised the competition and judged the winning entries:
Maisie Green, Anisha Kant, Claudia Marshall, Layla Mercer-Jones, Seth Kennerley, Zach Rawed, Thomas Taylor, Chloe Brett, Eleanor Adrian-Horrocks, Tegan Evans, Ella Collyer.
Remembrance
Thank you to all our school community who have bought poppies, supporting the Royal British Legion. It was lovely to see all our pupils wearing their poppies with pride. The children have been reflecting on the theme of Remembrance. They have also learned and recited well-known remembrance poems as well as writing their own. Below are two impressive poems from 3H Foxes class, which were shared during their wonderful class assembly. Well done!
On Monday 13th November, Ted's Dad, Commanding Officer Crossland, visited Oatlands Junior School to help Year 4 mark Remembrance Day. He told the pupils lots of information about life in the army and they were able to acknowledge the Armistice with a minute's silence. This followed The Last Post, which Private Holliday played on his bugle.
Harvest Festival
Thank you for your fantastic support in making harvest donations this year in aid of the Harrogate Homeless Project. The response has been wonderful! On Friday 13th October we welcomed Carol Norrie from the Project, who was extremely grateful for the donations. Her informative talk opened our eyes to the work they carry out and it was great to hear what a big difference your generosity will make. Thank you again.
