“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10
At Cavendish Church of England Primary School, Religious Education is a high-profile academic subject and an entitlement for every pupil. RE plays an important part in enabling our children to understand themselves, other people and the diverse world in which they live.
Our theologically rooted Christian vision, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” shapes our approach. Through RE, children are encouraged to think deeply, ask important questions, listen respectfully and develop the knowledge and understanding needed to engage thoughtfully with religious and non-religious worldviews.
This reflects our school vision: We Learn. We Love. We Belong.
Our RE Curriculum
Our Religious Education curriculum follows the Suffolk Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, Where do I stand? and meets the expectations of the Church of England Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education 2026.
We use the Emmanuel Project, developed by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, to support the delivery of our curriculum. Its enquiry-based approach enables children to explore key concepts and questions through a carefully sequenced programme of learning.
Our curriculum develops pupils' understanding through three important disciplinary lenses:
- Theology – exploring beliefs, sacred texts and sources of authority;
- Philosophy – thinking deeply about questions of meaning, truth, knowledge and existence; and
- Human and Social Sciences – exploring how religion and worldviews are lived and expressed by individuals and communities.
Through these disciplines, children develop the knowledge and skills needed to become increasingly religiously literate: able to understand, discuss, question and evaluate religious and non-religious worldviews with accuracy, confidence and respect.
Christianity, Religions and Worldviews
As a Church of England school, Christianity is the principal religious worldview studied throughout our RE curriculum and is taught in every phase. In line with the Church of England Statement of Entitlement, Christianity accounts for at least half of our RE curriculum.
Children encounter Christianity as a diverse, global and living faith. They explore biblical texts and Christian beliefs and practices while also discovering how Christianity may be expressed differently across cultures, communities, traditions and individuals.
Alongside Christianity, pupils study a carefully selected range of other religious and non-religious worldviews. This helps them recognise both diversity between worldviews and diversity within them.
Children learn that people do not all think, believe or live in the same way. They are encouraged to encounter difference with curiosity, knowledge, dignity and respect.
Our Mixed-Age Class Structure
Our RE curriculum is carefully organised around the mixed-age structure of Cavendish.
Robins – EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2
Children begin by exploring important concepts through stories, artefacts, celebrations, experiences and discussion. Reception children's learning is developmentally appropriate, while Year 1 and Year 2 pupils progressively build the knowledge and vocabulary required within the RE curriculum.
Wrens – Year 3 and Year 4
Children deepen their understanding of religious and non-religious worldviews and increasingly use theology, philosophy and human and social sciences to explore significant questions. They begin to make connections, use evidence and explain differences within and between worldviews.
Owls – Year 5 and Year 6
Children encounter increasingly complex ideas and sources. They are expected to draw upon previous knowledge, interpret and evaluate evidence, recognise diversity and engage in informed, respectful dialogue about questions of belief, meaning, identity and how people live.
Our mixed-age curriculum is carefully sequenced so that pupils build secure knowledge across each two-year cycle. Teaching is adapted through scaffolding, vocabulary, questioning and expectations of independence without reducing the ambition of the curriculum.
The Cavendish 5 in RE
As in all subjects at Cavendish, our Cavendish 5 underpin high-quality teaching and learning in Religious Education.
Retrieval
Children regularly revisit important vocabulary, concepts, beliefs, texts and previous learning so that new knowledge connects securely with what they already know.
I Do, We Do, You Do
Teachers explicitly model how to interpret sources, use disciplinary vocabulary and construct thoughtful responses before guiding pupils towards increasingly independent thinking.
Purposeful Practice
Children have repeated opportunities to revisit concepts, encounter sources, discuss ideas and apply their religious knowledge in different contexts.
High-Quality Questioning
RE provides rich opportunities to ask significant questions. Children are encouraged to explain, compare, interpret, justify, evaluate and consider different perspectives.
Feedback
Live feedback helps children address misconceptions, use religious vocabulary accurately, strengthen their reasoning and develop increasingly precise explanations.
RE in the Early Years
In Reception, Religious Education provides children with opportunities to encounter stories, people, places, objects and celebrations linked to religious and non-religious worldviews.
Children are encouraged to wonder, notice, ask questions, talk about what is important to themselves and others and begin to recognise similarities and differences between people's experiences.
These foundations support children's developing understanding of belonging, belief, celebration, community and the wider world, preparing them for increasingly disciplinary RE as they move through school.
Big Questions, Dialogue and Personal Worldviews
RE at Cavendish provides a safe and supportive space in which children can encounter big questions about life, meaning, belief, identity and purpose.
Children learn how to discuss ideas respectfully, recognise that reasonable people may hold different views and support their thinking with knowledge and evidence.
They are also given appropriate opportunities to reflect upon their own personal worldview – their developing ways of thinking, believing, living and understanding the world – without any expectation that they should adopt a particular religious position.
Our aim is not to tell children what to believe, but to give them the knowledge, vocabulary and confidence to understand beliefs and worldviews and engage thoughtfully with them.
Inclusion in RE
RE at Cavendish is ambitious for every child.
All pupils, including those with SEND and those who may experience disadvantage, are supported to engage meaningfully with the same important religious concepts and questions.
Teachers use explicit vocabulary teaching, carefully selected resources, visual support, artefacts, structured discussion, modelling and appropriate scaffolding to remove barriers to learning while maintaining high expectations.
Children are encouraged to demonstrate their understanding in different ways where appropriate, while the integrity and ambition of the RE curriculum remain the same.
Assessment in RE
Assessment helps us understand what children know, understand, remember and can increasingly do with their knowledge.
Teachers draw upon discussion, questioning, written and reflective outcomes, source work, pupil voice and opportunities to apply learning independently.
Assessment considers children's developing:
- knowledge of religious and non-religious worldviews;
- understanding of important concepts and vocabulary;
- ability to use theological, philosophical and human and social science thinking;
- ability to interpret and use sources;
- ability to make connections and recognise diversity; and
- ability to express informed ideas and engage respectfully with different perspectives.
Assessment is used to identify misconceptions and gaps in knowledge and to ensure that future teaching builds securely upon what pupils have already learned.
RE and Our Christian Vision
Religious Education is distinct from collective worship. It is taught as an academic subject in an objective, critical and pluralistic way and is non-confessional in nature.
At the same time, high-quality RE contributes significantly to the wider life of our Church school. It gives children opportunities to encounter profound questions, explore Christianity in depth, understand the beliefs and lives of others and consider their own developing worldview.
Collective worship provides a different and complementary opportunity for our school community to gather, encounter our Christian vision and engage in prayer and reflection.
Together with the wider life of the school, RE contributes to a culture in which children learn to approach others with wisdom, compassion, curiosity and dignity.
The Impact of RE at Cavendish
By the time children leave Cavendish, we want them to have developed a rich and well-informed understanding of Christianity, alongside secure knowledge and understanding of a range of religious and non-religious worldviews.
We want our pupils to be able to ask thoughtful questions, use religious vocabulary confidently, engage with sources, recognise diversity and discuss differing viewpoints with knowledge and respect.
Most importantly, we want them to leave us equipped to make sense of a multi-religious and multi-secular world, confident in encountering people whose beliefs and experiences may be different from their own.
Through RE, children learn to think deeply, listen generously and recognise the dignity of every person.
Right of Withdrawal from Religious Education
Religious Education is an important part of our curriculum at Cavendish Church of England Primary School. Through RE, children develop their knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other religions and worldviews, while learning to ask thoughtful questions, consider different perspectives and show respect for the beliefs of others.
Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of Religious Education.
If you are considering withdrawing your child from RE, we encourage you to contact the Headteacher via the school office in the first instance. This provides an opportunity to discuss the RE curriculum, understand which aspects you may wish your child to be withdrawn from, and agree appropriate arrangements.
Any request to withdraw a child from Religious Education will be respected and handled sensitively.
We Learn. We Love. We Belong.