St Mary's C of E Primary School & Nursery

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION & WORLDVIEW AT ST MARY'S

‘Faith in Everyone to Shine Brightly’ 

INTENT

At St Mary’s we teach Religion and Worldviews (RW) in order to help prepare students to understand and confidently take their place in an increasingly complex world. Through a multi – disciplinary approach, that promotes deep thinking and meaningful dialogue, we aim to teach children to think like a theologian, a social scientist and a philosopher and to ask big questions of themselves to help them develop their own worldview. As a result, RW at our school, is a vital part of our students’ journey towards becoming thoughtful, informed and respectful citizens.

As a Church of England school, we seek to follow the Church of England’s Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education, which states RW should enable pupils to:

• Engage meaningfully and critically with learning which helps them to make sense of the multi-religious and multi-secular world in which they live.
• Know about and understand Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of beliefs and practices, using approaches which engage with biblical text and key sources of authority.
• Gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religious and non-religious worldviews, appreciating the complexity, diversity, continuity and change that exists within those worldviews being studied.
• Grapple with questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience.
• Understand the concept of religion and recognise its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals, communities and societies in different times, cultures and places.
• Develop disciplinary knowledge which equips pupils to be religiously literate.
• Explore their personal worldviews; their own religious or non-religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking

We aim to:

• Develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of a wide range of Christians and people of other principal world religions, and non-religious worldviews in our local, national and wider global community.
• Enable pupils to explain how beliefs and practices can inform and change the way people see the world and the way they live and treat others.
• Help pupils to develop their own sense of identity and belonging.
• Help pupils to gain an understanding of differences held within a religious or non-religious worldview and of the similarities of beliefs and practices held in common by people within and across traditions.
• Equip pupils to be sensitive to others’ beliefs, be able to express their own views well, be open minded and respectful, show curiosity and have the skills to ask appropriate questions when meeting people different to themselves.
• Recognise and build on children’s prior learning, opinions and experiences, provide first hand learning experiences and encourage children to develop their thinking in the three key strands of RW (theology, philosophy and the social sciences) whilst exploring and enriching their own beliefs and values
• Develop spirituality

IMPLEMENTATION

At St Mary’s we follow the Wiltshire Agreed Syllabus 2025, which is supported by Oak Academy, this asks us to explore big questions across different worldviews using a multi-disciplinary approach that asks children to think like theologians, like social scientists and like philosophers.

Each term, two specific Christian values are explored, celebrated, and lived out through our carefully planned curriculum. Our values, big questions and lessons are intertwined to ensure that our children can access the curriculum and have the opportunity to shine brightly. Significant local, national, and international events are marked and celebrated with relevance and meaning.

As children progress in their learning, we consider increasingly complex questions.

Lessons will be taught discreetly and regularly in accordance with the guidelines in the Agreed Syllabus, as recommended by Ofsted in their 2024 review with some additional theme days or weeks.

Through content and pedagogy, we aim to be fully inclusive. Much of what we do will be oral, encouraging dialogue and curiosity Religious Education at St Mary’s may be taught through art, drama, storytelling and investigating artefacts. We encourage children to develop a knowledge of the rich tradition of religious art and music; responding and reflecting on what they may learn from it. We try to bring in visitors and take the children out to experience religion in the real world. 

Above all, we believe that the Christian values underpinning our education will enable the children to become confident, reflective, spiritual and morally aware people who can play a role in shaping modern Britain. 

Our progressive curriculum for 2026-2027 can be found here:  RE overview for 2026 2027.pdf

IMPACT

We will use assessment for several purposes

• Ongoing assessment in lessons will allow teachers to adjust their teaching to meet the needs of their pupils
• Summative assessment will allow us to check that pupils are making good progress
• Through assessment we can also check that our provision is effective

The multi-disciplinary AS is inherently progressive and identifies what we expect children to know by the end of each key stage and how they will develop their critical thinking skills as they move through the key stages.   The Ofsted review of 2024 deemed that if pupils have learnt the curriculum, then they have made progress.

As professionals we believe that teachers are best placed to determine their pupils’ progress.

This may be evidenced in floor books / subject leaders files and might, for example, be based on contributions to discussion, poetry, art or drama.

Also optional: The assessment of spirituality is much harder but may be seen through pupils’ ability to be reflective, empathetic, curious, imaginative and joyous.

Parents will receive an annual report on the attainment and progress of their child.

Monitoring Plan evidence shows that (in line with age expectations):

• most children have a good level of religious understanding and knowledge, including a range of religions and worldviews which enables them to engage in informed and balanced conversations about religions and beliefs.
• most children are inquisitive and ask significant and reflective questions, giving personal reflections on meaning and purpose.
• all children to have a positive attitude to those who hold religious beliefs which are different from their own.
• courageous advocacy enables our learners to stand up for what is right.
• children are spiritually, morally, socially and culturally aware and reflect on their own beliefs.
• most children are able to be discerning about the many attitudes and opinions they encounter and are respectful of different view and beliefs.
• most children are asked to consider their relationships to themselves, others, the planet, nature, suffering, pain, death and beyond. 

Right to Withdraw Your Child

Parents have the legal right to withdraw their child from Religious Education (RE) in primary schools, as per the 1988 Education Reform Act. This right applies to all maintained schools, academies, and free schools in the UK. The Department for Education (DfE) ensures that all statefunded schools must offer a balanced and broadly based curriculum, which includes RE. The curriculum aims to promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of life.

Parents are encouraged to consider the benefits of RE in fostering understanding and respect for diverse beliefs and cultures. However, they are also informed that schools have a duty to supervise children during RE lessons and that they should not incur extra costs or provide additional teaching. Schools should inform parents about the RE syllabus and the aims of the curriculum, and parents should be given the opportunity to discuss these matters.

It is important for parents to request withdrawal in writing and to be aware of the limitations to withdrawal. Schools must comply with the request and excuse the pupil until it is rescinded. While parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE, they should note that children may also encounter religions and beliefs in other areas of the curriculum from which there is no right of withdrawal.