Our curriculum intent for religious education is that every child will: 

• Consider challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, 

• Learn about and from religious and world views 

• Think and communicate like a theologian and 

• Develop a wide vocabulary to understand and talk about religion 

Religious education is an important aspect of our curriculum. Religion and beliefs inform our values and are reflected in what we say and how we behave. RE also contributes to children’s personal development and to community cohesion by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in our diverse society. 

We use Discovery RE as an enquiry-based scheme of work. Each enquiry lasts for half a term and begins with a ‘Big’ question such as ‘What is the best way for Christian/Jew/Muslim etc. to show commitment to God?’ The children then start discussing the theme of the enquiry from their own experience. What have they shown commitment to? Sports team? Cubs? Learning an instrument? 

Only when the children fully understand the concept they are considering, do they then move on to investigating what the people following the studied religion believe about it. They will spend approximately three – four sessions on this, learning a in a variety of ways so they can adapt their responses and come to a measured conclusion. In the final session they will complete an activity which can assess their learning by answering the ‘big’ question. The assessment activities are child friendly and can be answered in a variety of ways, as long as the child can justify their view with the knowledge they have learnt through the enquiry. This demonstrates the level of critical thinking that the children can apply – a valuable skill for them throughout the school curriculum.