Religious Education

At Calder Primary School we follow the West Yorkshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (2021) 'Believing and Belonging.'

We believe that well-prepared and challenging RE will help to inspire young people to learn from others and discover the value of empathy. Our curriculum aims to provide a framework to explore the rich heritage of faiths and beliefs but also the opportunity to develop critical and reflective skills that will support each pupil in discovering their own journey of purpose and meaning.

Religious Education helps young people to understand and articulate their own views about religion and world views. It helps them comprehend that not everyone feels the same as them, but teaches them to see other people's points of view. It gives them an understanding of why people think and behave differently and how that impacts society.

In teaching RE we have three key aims of study:

Investigate the beliefs and practices of religions and worldviews;
Investigate how religions and worldviews address questions of meaning, purpose & value;
Investigate how religions and worldviews influence morality, identity and diversity.

The curriculum focuses on specific core religions at each key stage: Christianity and Islam from KS1, adding Sikhism and Judaism at KS2 and then Buddhism and Hinduism at KS3. In addition, other (non-religious) world views are also included as part of the curriculum at each key stage. We use the resources from the RE Hub, which have been specifically developed to meet the agreed syllabus requirements and are regularly updated. Each unit of work focuses around a key question for investigation throughout the unit of work and develops pupils skills of enquiry, discussion and reasoned responses. 

We aim to broaden pupils' experiences of different religions through visits and visitors, to broaden their understanding and build on their learning in class. This can include virtual visits, for example a virtual tour of a Sikh Temple, visiting local churches and mosques and having visitors from the local vicar to staff with different religions to talk about their faiths.