Religious Education at St. Mary’s

Our vision for RE has its roots in our school vision; ‘Enjoy, Explore, Excel together; be amazing!’ Through our teaching of RE, we want children to enjoy exploring the deep questions and concepts which religions and worldviews offer, becoming confident in discussing these while developing their own responses to the ‘big questions’ of life. Through doing this, we hope to prepare children for the diverse landscape of modern Britain, building respect and understanding for the wide range of worldviews they will encounter while recognising their own place and value within this landscape. The aim of RE is not to make children into religious believers, but to help them understand that religion and worldviews influence and sustain many people in the world today, to consider the wisdom of these traditions, and reflect on their own responses to this.

How do we teach RE?

As a Church of England school, we seek to follow the aims of the Church of England’s Statement of Entitlement for RE teaching. This states that, through the teaching of RE, children should develop religious literacy by engaging critically with Christianity as a diverse global faith and with a range of religious and non-religious worldviews, exploring their complexity, influence, and relevance in contemporary society. Through this, they consider questions of meaning and purpose while reflecting on their own personal worldviews and ways of thinking.

At St. Mary’s, Christianity accounts for approximately 50% of the RE curriculum and is taught using the Understanding Christianity resource. This approach encourages children to engage meaningfully with Biblical texts and to make connections between these teachings and how Christians might apply them in their daily lives. The remaining RE units are delivered through the South Gloucestershire Locally Agreed Syllabus, which aims to develop children’s understanding of a range of religions and worldviews through enquiry, questioning, and diverse disciplinary approaches. Each unit is framed around a key question, prompting children to explore different perspectives while forming and reflecting on their own ideas.

RE is taught on a two-year rolling programme. In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), children are introduced to Christianity alongside a variety of world faiths through stories and key festivals. In Key Stage One, pupils study Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, while also beginning to explore Humanist and other non-religious worldviews. This learning is then revisited and built upon in Key Stage Two, where children deepen their understanding of these areas and are additionally introduced to Hinduism in Year Three.