Intent

At St Mary’s, it is our intent that our Religious Education curriculum will engage, inspire, challenge and encourage children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer life’s ‘big questions’. Our vision for our Religious Education is that it enables our children to deepen their understanding of God as encountered and taught through Christianity and make links between the beliefs, practices and value systems of faiths outside of Christianity.

Our children will develop age-appropriate skills of enquiry, critical analysis and interpretation and benefit from opportunities to enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding through the teaching of RE. The Religious Education curriculum at St Mary’s supports children in developing their sense of identity and belonging, enabling them to flourish individually whilst being respectful and inquisitive of beliefs and world-views that differ to their own.

Implementation

At St Mary’s, we follow Surrey’s Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. 

Our children learn about and understand religion so that they can:

• Describe and analyse beliefs, teachings and practices, recognising the diversity which exists within and between religious and nonreligious communities and individuals;
• Identify, investigate and respond to questions posed, using their understanding and learning about Christianity and other world religions;
• Appreciate and appraise the nature, significance and impact of different ways of life and of expressing meaning.

Our children learn from religion. This includes expressing ideas and insights into questions of identity, diversity and belonging, meaning, purpose and truth, values and commitments.

In the Early Years, Religious Education is based upon our children’s own lives and experiences. We introduce Christianity, and other religions, beliefs and world views are explored through our continuous provision.

In Key Stage One, we introduce the study of Christianity and aspects of Judaism and Islam.

In Key Stage Two, we develop the study of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and introduce aspects of Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. In several units, we also incorporate elements reflecting non-religious world views.

Our Religious Education curriculum offer is enriched by opportunities outside of specific RE lessons, such as visiting places of worship, visitors from different faiths and Pause Days.