Weston Village Primary SchoolReligious Education
Religious Education at Weston
Religious Education helps children understand the religious and non-religious worldviews that shape people's lives, communities and cultures.
At Weston Village Primary School, pupils develop knowledge of different beliefs, practices, traditions and ways of understanding the world. They learn to ask thoughtful questions, explore similarities and differences, consider different perspectives and give increasingly well-reasoned responses.
RE is taught respectfully and academically. Its purpose is not to tell children what to believe, but to help them develop the knowledge and understanding needed to engage thoughtfully with a diverse society.
Our RE Curriculum
Our curriculum is designed in line with the Cheshire East Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education and is organised to build knowledge progressively across the primary years. Cheshire East's current statutory agreed syllabus covers 2022–2027.
Children encounter both religious and non-religious worldviews and learn that there can be diversity within as well as between traditions.
Across the curriculum, pupils learn about Christianity and develop knowledge of other worldviews including Judaism, Islam, Hindu Dharma and Humanism, alongside units in which several perspectives are considered together.
Learning About Religion and Worldviews
Children learn about the ways in which beliefs can influence how people understand the world and live their lives.
This includes learning about:
beliefs about God, humanity and the world
sacred texts and stories
worship and prayer
festivals and celebrations
sacred places
religious leaders
belonging and identity
pilgrimage
charity and care for others
moral and ethical questions
beliefs about life, death and what may come afterwards
religious and non-religious perspectives on important questions.
Children are taught appropriate vocabulary and increasingly recognise that there is rarely a single way in which all members of a religion or worldview believe or practise.
Enquiry, Discussion and Reasoning
Questions are central to RE.
Children are encouraged to investigate rather than simply receive information. They encounter questions about belief, identity, meaning, morality and how people choose to live.
Teachers help pupils distinguish between knowing what a worldview teaches, understanding how this may be expressed in people's lives, and considering different responses to wider questions.
As children mature, discussion becomes increasingly sophisticated. They learn to listen carefully, use evidence from their learning, compare viewpoints and explain reasons for their own conclusions.
Having a personal view is welcomed, but children are also taught that a reasoned response should demonstrate understanding of perspectives beyond their own.
Christianity
Christianity is studied throughout the school so that children's understanding develops rather than restarting each year.
In Year 1, pupils encounter Christian stories, Christmas, churches and cathedrals and ideas about creation.
Later learning develops into areas such as the Trinity, Christian life in Britain, Jesus as teacher and leader, pilgrimage, charity, salvation, the Bible, Christian worship and Christian leadership.
By Year 6, pupils are able to explore diversity within Christian worship and consider how faith may be expressed differently by different Christians.
Judaism
Children begin developing knowledge of Judaism in Year 1 through Jewish stories and sacred places.
This knowledge is revisited and developed later, including through learning about Jewish life and beliefs.
This allows children to move beyond recognising individual festivals or symbols towards understanding how beliefs, texts, places and practices connect within a lived worldview.
Islam
Children's study of Islam develops progressively.
In Year 2, pupils learn about Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr and the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
Later, pupils develop their understanding through the Five Pillars of Islam and Islamic pilgrimage.
This enables pupils to connect beliefs with the ways Muslims may practise and express their faith.
Hindu Dharma
As pupils move through Key Stage 2, they develop knowledge of Hindu Dharma, including Hindu life in Britain, sacred places and worship.
By Year 6, pupils revisit and deepen this learning through units focused on Hindu worship and understanding Hindu Dharma.
Using the term Hindu Dharma alongside Hinduism also helps children encounter terminology used by many adherents themselves.
Humanism and Non-Religious Worldviews
RE at Weston includes non-religious as well as religious perspectives.
In Year 5, pupils study Humanism through a unit on identity, alongside wider questions about the existence of God.
This helps children understand that worldviews can be religious or non-religious and that people may reach different conclusions about meaning, morality, identity and how to live a good life.
Comparing Worldviews
Some units deliberately draw together more than one religion or worldview.
Children may explore themes such as belonging, new beginnings, special journeys, prayer, harvest, faith in art, the existence of God and life beyond through several perspectives.
Comparison is used carefully. Pupils first need sufficient knowledge of the traditions being considered so that similarities and differences are meaningful rather than superficial.
RE in Reception
The foundations of RE begin in Reception through Understanding the World.
Children encounter celebrations, stories and traditions including Harvest, Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, Lunar New Year and Easter. They also encounter Christian stories and begin to understand that some books, people, places and celebrations are particularly important to different communities.
At this stage, learning is rooted in stories, conversation and children's growing awareness of families, communities and the wider world.
How Learning Develops
In Key Stage 1, children develop essential knowledge through stories, places, celebrations and practices. They begin to use religious vocabulary, compare aspects of different traditions and ask questions about why beliefs and practices matter to people.
In Lower Key Stage 2, pupils encounter more complex ideas about belief and practice. They deepen their knowledge of Christianity and Judaism, develop their understanding of Islam and Hindu Dharma, and explore wider themes including values, prayer, pilgrimage and religious expression.
In Upper Key Stage 2, pupils consider increasingly abstract questions and diverse perspectives. Alongside deeper study of Christianity, Islam and Hindu Dharma, children encounter Humanism and questions concerning identity, the existence of God, salvation, caring for the world and life beyond.
How We Teach RE
Our whole-school teaching routines support children in accessing the knowledge, vocabulary and discussion required in RE.
I → We → You allows teachers to model how to interpret information, compare viewpoints and construct a reasoned response before children work increasingly independently.
Scaffold → Fade means vocabulary, visual prompts, discussion structures and examples may initially support pupils but are reduced as understanding develops.
Retrieval, little and often helps children retain important beliefs, vocabulary, people, practices and previous learning so that new ideas can connect to what they already know.
Words & Visuals is particularly valuable in RE, where pupils encounter unfamiliar terminology, objects, symbols, places and practices.
Respectful Discussion
RE sometimes involves questions on which people hold deeply different views.
Children are taught to discuss these respectfully. They learn that they can disagree with an idea while treating the person expressing it with dignity.
Pupils are never expected to present a particular religious or non-religious belief as their own. Where children choose to share their own beliefs or family experiences, these are treated respectfully but are not used to assume that one child represents an entire religion or community.
Inclusion in RE
We want every child to participate in ambitious RE learning.
Teachers may support access through explicit vocabulary teaching, visual resources, carefully structured texts, oral rehearsal, additional modelling and alternative ways of recording understanding.
The goal is to help pupils engage with the same important concepts and questions while providing the support they need to do so successfully and increasingly independently.
Assessment
Assessment in RE considers both what pupils know and how effectively they can use that knowledge.
Teachers use questioning, discussion, retrieval activities and pupils' work to understand whether children can recall important knowledge, use subject vocabulary appropriately, explain beliefs and practices, make meaningful comparisons and give reasoned responses to questions.
Assessment helps teachers identify misconceptions and decide what needs to be revisited or developed next.
RE and Collective Worship
Religious Education and collective worship are separate parts of school life.
RE is curriculum learning about religions and worldviews. Collective worship has a different purpose and is organised separately.
Children may encounter some common themes, stories or festivals in both, but participation in collective worship is not used as a substitute for curriculum RE.
Right of Withdrawal
Parents and carers have a legal right to request that their child is withdrawn from all or part of Religious Education.
If you are considering withdrawal, please contact the Headteacher. We will discuss which elements of RE you wish your child to be withdrawn from and the practical arrangements that would apply.
Where a pupil is withdrawn, the school remains responsible for their supervision. The Cheshire East agreed syllabus explains that schools are not required to provide additional alternative teaching that would incur extra cost, although arrangements for alternative RE may be possible in some circumstances.
Our Religious Education Curriculum
The document below shows how Religious Education develops from Reception to Year 6.