Guidance on Knowledge Organisers
What are Knowledge Organisers?
In the context of the most recent thinking on knowledge-rich, sequential curriculum design, it is important that teachers are clear about what knowledge they are teaching in any given curriculum area.
A knowledge organiser (KO) is a document (preferably on a single A4 page) that sets out the ‘powerful knowledge’ for a given topic of study (‘powerful knowledge’ is a term frequently used by Professor Michael Young). A KO is a tool that provides pupils with a clear summary of the knowledge that is being covered and helps them to understand how this knowledge connects to other topics they are studying.
A massive THANKS to all those amazing teachers who have contributed material for this page!
Dangers
KOs are not compulsory and can be time-consuming to develop. You can plan and teach great RE without them, so don’t assume that they are essential. However, if your school is asking you to develop them, then these notes and examples may be useful!
Planning KOs
For more detail on how to plan KOs, please see the useful guidance documents here:
Examples of Knowledge Organisers
Primary
Y1 Knowledge Organiser y1 Creation
Y1 Yr1 Judaism Knowledge Organiser (1)
Y1 Christianity Incarnation Y1
Y3 Knowledge Organiser y3 Gospel
Y3 How is Following God like a Christian Wedding
Y3 Y3 Gospel KO
Y3 Y3 What does it mean to be a Sikh
Y3 Y3 Incarnation What is the Trinity KO year 3
Y3 KS2 KO What is the trinity_
Y4 Knowledge Organiser y4 Kingdom of God
Y5 Knowledge Organiser y5 Gospel
Y5 What is it like to be a Muslim living in Britain today
Y5 Why is the Torah important to Jewish people
Y5 UKS2 Why do some people believe in God
Y6 Christianity Creation and science Y6
Secondary
Y7 Hinduism – Knowledge Organiser
Bodmin College RE Learning Journey snake – COMPLETED
A level Independent-Study-Guide
The RE Booklet Making page on Facebook has some really useful Booklets for KS3 in the files section. Some include good knowledge organiser pages.