Religious Education

The Curriculum for Religious Education

Our Religious Education (RE) curriculum is based on the Essex Agreed Syllabus and the 2019 Statement of Entitlement published by the Church of England's Education Office. It enables children to learn about range of world faiths and world views with the majority of time devoted to Christianity as a global religion.

The curriculum is sequenced using resources from NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education).

The curriculum is designed to take up 5-10% of curricular time and should be taught through three key disciplinary strands of theology, philosophy and the human/social sciences.  RE is an academic subject. Through these disciplinary lenses, individuals gain religious knowledge and wisdom, enabling them to become not only religiously literate but also to develop critical thinking skills.

Theological lens

Examining religious ideas through the theological lens requires pupils to think like theologians and ask why people believe what they do. This involves examining the source of these beliefs such as scripture and how they are interpreted and have changed overtime. Theology enables pupils to look at where beliefs and world views come from, how they have changed over time, how they are applied differently in different contexts and how they relate to each other. 

Human and social science lens

Looking through the human and social science lens focuses on the influence of religion and how people live their lives and express their faith and world views. Pupils investigate the ways in which religions and worldviews have shaped and continue to shape societies around the world.  They also examine similarities across faiths and examine if people from different religions worship and pray in the same way. This strand explores the diverse ways in which people practise their beliefs and considers the major world faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.

Philosophical lens

Looking through a philosophical lens focuses on asking and exploring the big questions theology and human and social science pose. Philosophical questions raise questions around morality, the fundamental nature of knowledge, existence, creation and the universe and how we know what we know, or believe what we believe. It is the process of reasoning that lies at the heart of philosophy. It is less about coming up with answers to difficult questions and more about the process of how we try to answer them and using dialogue, logic, discussion and debate.