RE

What Is RE About?

Religious Education helps children make sense of the world by learning about different religions, beliefs and ways of life. A high‑quality Religious Education encourages pupils’ curiosity and supports them in developing a deeper understanding of Christianity and other principal religions, including Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, as well as non‑religious worldviews represented in Britain and the wider world. Children learn to ask thoughtful questions, reflect on big ideas, consider different viewpoints and show respect for beliefs that may be different from their own.  

Our Vision

“The need of the moment is not one religion, but mutual respect and tolerance of the devotees of different religions” 

M K Ghandi 

At Heyes Lane Primary School, we recognise the importance of supporting our children to be active and ethical citizens, who care about themselves, their community and the wider world. Our RE curriculum is designed to allow children to explore both their own beliefs and develop their understanding of the world and the beliefs of others. Through our key questions, which range from longer themes looking in depth at a particular religion, to shorter themes which look at concepts such as prayer, places of worship, religious traditions and sacred texts – we foster children’s understanding and respect for the wide variety of different beliefs and practices that take place in the world around us. Children begin to understand how beliefs influence individuals, communities and societies. This helps children develop a strong sense of identity, fosters empathy and respect, and supports their understanding of diversity, shared values and the role religion plays in shaping the world today. 

Our RE curriculum provides a safe environment where children can learn about different religions, and can develop and express their own beliefs without judgement. Through the breadth of themes and religious/non-religious viewpoints covered, children will gain a deeper understanding of their own identity and personal beliefs. Children are encouraged to respect the opinions of others, to understand that everyone has a right to their own beliefs and are taught that a person’s beliefs may be a mixture of different religious and non-religious viewpoints. It is a significant mechanism for supporting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in school and helps children to build on their developing sense of belonging within the community. RE provides a key context to develop children’s understanding and appreciation of diversity, to promote shared values and to challenge racism and discrimination. 

Curriculum Design

At Heyes Lane Primary School, in KS1 and KS2 we teach RE discretely. RE teaching follows the Trafford agreed syllabus for Religious Education (SACRE), which meets the legal requirements of the Education Act (1944) and the Education Reform Act (1988), and is taught weekly from Year 1 through to Year 6. 

The RE syllabus is broken down into three strands: 

- Believing – This strand focusses on religious beliefs, teachings, and sources; it poses questions about meaning, purpose and truth. 

- Expressing – This strand relates to religious and spiritual forms of expression; it includes questions about identity and diversity. 

- Living – This strand deals with religious practices and ways of living; the questions concentrate on values and commitments. 

All our units of work are based around key questions, many of which enable the children to explore and compare several different religions at the same time. 

Children have ample opportunities to learn about the contribution that different religious groups make to their communities and to consider the contributions they can make themselves to improve the world we live in. Throughout the units, children learn about the leadership of different religious and influential figures and look at the qualities that define a good leader. 

In Early Years our children follow the ‘New EYFS Framework 2021’ and ‘recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways’ and know there are some similarities and differences between religions and cultural communities in this country’. 

Our RE curriculum also reinforces the desire for our children at Heyes Lane to become active and ethical citizens who care about themselves, their community and the wider world, whilst developing an understanding and fairness that they can take forward with them to help make the world a better place. 

What Does RE Look Like At Heyes Lane?

"Education is the most powerful weapon which can change the world"
Nelson Mandela 

Children have learning journeys for each unit so they can look back at what they have learned and also use them to see where their learning will take them.  

Children start the lesson by recapping the previous lesson and then follow a bespoke series of lessons which introduce and discuss the question for that lesson. Children use a range of activities to record their work – from origami boats to speed debating and designing and uploading posters to SeeSaw. 

At Heyes Lane, our RE curriculum has cohesiveness and parity across classes and between year groups at its heart, and clear progression is shown in our planning and lesson content. Our books and knowledge organisers reflect the development of children’s skills and understanding throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. Planning is embedded in our whole school design, and children can refer to knowledge gained in RE in other areas of the curriculum. 

Assemblies on special days (for example Remembrance Day) festivals associated with different religions enhance the RE curriculum. As does the Year 4 Easter card competition, where winning designs are distributed to the adults around school 

How Do We Assess Children and Evaluate Our RE Curriculum?

Through our RE teaching, children have a wealth of opportunity to discuss their understanding of a wide variety of key concepts and ideas, to deepen their thinking, and to express their own beliefs and we use this as part of our teacher assessment for RE.  We have ‘final questions’ at the end of each lesson that assess their understanding of that lesson’s concept and short assessments at the end of each unit that assess the children’s factual knowledge. 

We measure the impact of our curriculum through weekly ‘Recaps’ at the start of each lesson, regular feedback, marking and pupil voice feedback 

As a staff, we use subject motoring to make sure our lessons are meeting the needs of our children and keeping up to date with the latest recommendations. 

How Can You Help At Home?

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z6jycxs Key Stage 1 Religious Education 

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z7hs34j Key Stage 2 Religious Education 

- Discuss what the children have been learning in their lessons and reinforce to children that not everyone will have that same opinion and beliefs as themselves.  

Meet the Subject Leader

I am Mrs Greenlees and have been the RE Lead at Heyes Lane for over 15 years. I am passionate about teaching Religious Education across the school to pupils of all ages and enjoy learning about the wide range of beliefs, traditions, and values found within world religions and beliefs. I am also the Vice Chair of the Trafford SACRE committee, a local authority body that advises on RE in schools, which enables me to stay up to date with current teaching approaches and curriculum developments and this ensures that RE at Heyes Lane remains relevant, engaging, and of high quality.