“Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverb 22.16.

In accordance with the Church of England’s Education Office Statement of Entitlement Religious Education in a Church school should enable every child to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. (John 10:10).

The school follows the 2023 Manchester Diocese syllabus. It reflects current thinking and research around religion and worldviews. 

The syllabus provides opportunity for the thematic study of religious belief (through comparing beliefs on a theme) and the developing of the associated skills in this area, yet it also has provided opportunity for systematic study, approaching one religious tradition at a time. It is hoped that this approach will develop a depth of knowledge, wisdom and understanding, while encouraging curiosity, reflection and exploration of the ways in which people live, enabling our children and young people to recognise the value of their communities and contribute to them living well together.

This syllabus is designed to support schools in developing and delivering excellence in RE. It responds to national calls for deepening pupils’ knowledge about religions and for developing their ‘religious literacy’. It does this by studying one religion at a time (‘systematic’ units), and then including ‘thematic’ units, which build on learning by comparing the religions, beliefs and practices studied.

It sets out an underlying teaching and learning approach, whereby pupils encounter core concepts in religions and beliefs in a coherent way, developing their understanding and their ability to handle questions of religion and belief.

The federation’s medium-term plans have been developed with the teaching and learning approach which incorporates three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs, underpinning the aims of RE (Making sense of beliefs, making connections, understanding the impact). Teaching and learning in the classroom will encompass all three elements (success criteria), allowing for overlap between elements as suits the religion, concept and question being explored. These elements set the context for open exploration of religion and belief. They offer a structure through which pupils can encounter diverse religious traditions alongside non-religious worldviews – which reflect the backgrounds of many pupils in our schools. The elements present a broad and flexible strategy that allows for different traditions to be treated with integrity. These elements offer a route through each unit while also allowing for a range of questions reflecting different approaches, for example, from religious studies, philosophy, sociology, ethics and theology.