RE Curriclum

Children are encouraged and motivated by RE, and therefore demonstrate a desire to find out more about themselves and their own feelings and beliefs.

What are the aims of Religious Education?

RE aims to give children the knowledge, critical thinking skills, open minded and respectful attitude with which to investigate the world of religion and beliefs, and make their own decisions about what this means to them, whilst empathising with what it means to those who hold those beliefs. It also aims to enable children to grow spiritually by developing their awareness and skills of reflection, their experience of awe and wonder and their appreciation of stillness and silence.

Does my child have to attend RE lessons?

RE is a statutory subject in all schools in England which sits alongside but not in the English National Curriculum. (Education Act 2002, section 80). 

What do schools have to teach in RE?

The latest guidance from the government, via the National Curriculum for England, every school needs to have a broad and balanced curriculum that:

• promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, social, mental and physical development of pupils

• prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life

• promotes British values. Schools also have statutory responsibility to promote community cohesion (Education Act, 2006), and have to demonstrate that they are “Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation, from whatever source” (The Prevent duty – departmental advice for schools and childcare providers”, June 2015).

RE plays an important part in enabling these responsibilities. There is no ‘official’ national agreement on what should be taught, rather a non-statutory national framework to guide syllabus-writing bodies. We teach Christianity plus one other principal religion / belief system in every year group which enables all 6 principal religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism) to be considered by the end of Key Stage 2.

Our RE Policy and Curriculum Overview