RE

Our Vision

We believe that in today’s increasingly multicultural society, learning about world religions is a vital part of children’s education, helping them develop an understanding and tolerance of other people’s faiths.

Our intent

RE is not part of the National Curriculum and therefore we follow Bradford Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2024 - 2029. By the end of their primary school education pupils will have studied all six major religions in some depth: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

The aims of the Religious Education curriculum at Cullingworth Primary School are:

* to develop learners’ conceptual understanding and informed appreciation of religion and beliefs so they can engage in learning, discussion and reflection with enjoyment and openness

* to contribute to the development of learners’ worldviews through their knowledge and understanding of religion and beliefs in order to enrich their spiritual and moral development, and to prepare them to contribute to a just and civil society

* to develop awareness and understanding of the richness of religion and beliefs, their contributions to society and their significance in the lives of individuals and communities

* to appreciate both commonality and distinctiveness within and between religion and beliefs in order to help learners to engage with existential issues and ultimate questions with critical discernment and empathy.

At Cullingworth Primary School, we emphasise a commitment to enquiry-based learning. We believe that good religious education is more about questions than answers, more about understanding than knowledge, and more about depth and breadth than meeting short-term targets. RE classrooms are busy, active, reflective, safe and stimulating environments in which children learn, engage in dialogue and develop empathy.

Below you will find the Bradford Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education and the RE Long-Term Plan for Year A and B. As we have mixed classes at Cullingworth, we operate on a rolling programme to prevent the repetition of topics and to ensure coverage of skills for both year groups.

RE Learning in EYFS:

The EYFS framework is structured very differently to learning within key stage one and two as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas. The aim of this document is to help subject leaders to understand how the skills taught across EYFS feed into later learning.

Religious education is not a statutory part of the national curriculum but state-funded, local authority schools must provide a basic curriculum. Schools designated as having a religious character are free to make their own decisions in preparing their syllabuses. Each local authority will have an agreed syllabus so it is important RE subject leaders are aware of the agreed syllabus and how statements from the 2020 Development Matters feed into that particular syllabus.

The table below outlines the most relevant statements taken from the Early Learning Goals in the EYFS statutory framework and the Development Matters age ranges for Three and Four-Year-Olds and Reception.

The most relevant statements for RE are taken from the following areas of learning: