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Primary & Nursery School

Religious Education

The East Sussex Syllabus for Religious Education

east-sussex-agreed-syllabus-june-2017.pdf

Religious Education Intent

Religious Education has a significant role for the development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It promotes respect and open-mindedness towards others with different faiths and beliefs and encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging through self-awareness and reflection.


The principle aim of RE is to engage pupils in an enquiry approach where they can develop an understanding and appreciation for the expression of beliefs, cultural practices and influence of principle religions and worldviews in the local, national and wider global community.

Progression in Religious Education

Nursery Religious Education

Reception Religious Education

  • Show sensitivity to their own and others’ needs.

  • Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society

  • Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.

  • Listen to religious stories from a variety of cultures. Identify similarities and differences.

  • Learn about religious practices through books for example weddings.

  • Show sensitivity to needs and feelings of others.

  • Talk about people familiar to them including those with a faith and those who are different to them.

  • Develop own values and talk about own experiences.

Year 1 Religious Education

Year 2 Religious Education

Learning About Religion

  • Recall features of religious, spiritual and moral stories and other forms of religious expression

  • Recognise and name features of religions and beliefs

Learning From Religion

  • Identify what they find interesting and puzzling in life

  • Recognise symbols and other forms of religious expression

  • Recount outlines of some religious stories

  • Recognise features of religious life and practice

  • Identify what is of value and concern to themselves, in religious material studied

  • Identify aspects of own experience and feelings, in religious material studied

  • Identify things they find interesting or puzzling, in religious materials studied

  • Identify what is of value and concern to themselves, in religious material studied


Learning About Religion

  • Retell religious, spiritual and moral stories

  • Identify how religion and belief is expressed in different ways

  • Identify similarities and differences in features of religions and beliefs

Learning From Religion

  • Recognise that some questions about life are difficult to answer

  • Ask questions about their own and others’ feelings and experiences

  • Identify possible meanings for symbols and other forms of religious expression

  • Retell religious stories and identify some religious beliefs and teachings

  • Identify some religious practices, and know that some are characteristic of more than one religion

  • Suggest meanings in religious symbols, language and stories

  • Respond sensitively to the experiences and feelings of others, including those with a faith

  • Realise that some questions that cause people to wonder are difficult to answer

  • Respond sensitively to the values and concerns of others, including those with a faith, in relation to matters of right and wrong

Year 3 Religious Education

Year 4 Religious Education

Learning About Religion

  • Make links between beliefs, stories and practices

  • Identify the impacts of beliefs and practices on people’s lives

  • Identify similarities and differences between religions and beliefs

Learning From Religion

  • Investigate and connect features of religions and beliefs

  • Ask significant questions about religions and beliefs

  • Describe and suggest meanings for symbols and other forms of religious expression

  • Describe some religious beliefs and teachings of religions studied, and their importance

  • Describe how some features of religions studied are used or exemplified in festivals and practices

  • Make links between religious symbols, language and stories and the beliefs or ideas that underlie them

  • Compare aspects of their own experiences and those of others, identifying what influences their lives

  • Compare their own and other people's ideas about questions that are difficult to answer

  • Make links between values and commitments, including religious ones, and their own attitudes or behaviour


Learning About Religion

  • Comment on connections between questions, beliefs, values and practices

  • Describe the impact of beliefs and practices on individuals, groups and communities

  • Describe similarities and differences within and between religions and beliefs

Learning From Religion

  • Gather, select, and organise ideas about religion and belief

  • Suggest answers to some questions raised by the study of religions and beliefs

  • Suggest meanings for a range of forms of religious expression, using appropriate vocabulary

  • Describe the key beliefs and teachings of the religions studied, connecting them accurately with other features of the religions making some comparisons between religions

  • Show understanding of the ways of belonging to religions and what these involve

  • Show, using technical terminology, how religious beliefs, ideas and feelings can be expressed in a variety of forms, giving meanings for some symbols, stories and language

  • Ask questions about the significant experiences of key figures from religions studied and suggest answers from own and others' experiences, including believers

  • Ask questions about puzzling aspects of life and experiences and suggest answers, making reference to the teaching of religions studied

  • Ask questions about matters of right and wrong and suggest answers that show understanding of moral and religious issues

Year 5 Religious Education

Year 6 Religious Education


Learning About Religion

  • Explain connections between questions, beliefs, values and practices in different belief systems

  • Recognise and explain the impact of beliefs and ultimate questions on individuals and communities

  • Explain how and why differences in belief are expressed

Learning From Religion

  • Suggest lines of enquiry to address questions raised by the study of religions and beliefs

  • Suggest answers to questions raised by the study of religions and beliefs, using relevant sources and evidence

  • Recognise and explain diversity within religious expression, using appropriate concepts

  • Explain how some beliefs and teachings are shared by different religions and how they make a difference to the lives of individuals and communities

  • Explain how selected features of religious life and practice make a difference to the lives of individuals and communities

  • Explain how some forms of religious expression are used differently by individuals and communities

  • Make informed responses to questions of identity and experience in the light of their learning

  • Make informed responses to questions of meaning and purpose in the light of their learning

  • Make informed responses to people's values and commitments (including religious ones) in the light of their learning



Learning About Religion

  • Use religious and philosophical terminology and concepts to explain religions, beliefs and value systems

  • Explain some of the challenges offered by the variety of religions and beliefs in the contemporary world

  • Explain the reasons for, and effects of, diversity within and between religions, beliefs and cultures

Learning From Religion

  • Identify the influences on, and distinguish between, different viewpoints within religions and beliefs

  • Interpret religions and beliefs from different perspectives

  • Interpret the significance and impact of different forms of religious and spiritual expression

  • Make comparisons between the key beliefs, teachings and practices of the Christian faith and other faiths studied, using a wide range of appropriate language and vocabulary

  • Explain in detail the significance of Christian practices, and those of other faiths studied, to the lives of individuals and communities

  • Compare the different ways in which people of faith communities express their faith

  • Discuss and express their views on some fundamental questions of identity, meaning, purpose and morality related to Christianity and other faiths

  • Express their views on some fundamental questions of identity, meaning, purpose and morality related to Christianity and other faiths

  • Make informed responses to people's values and commitments (including religious ones) in the light of their learning They will use different techniques to reflect deeply