Understanding beliefs, people and the world

Religious Education helps children understand how beliefs and worldviews influence people’s lives. It introduces important questions about belonging, meaning, identity and how we should live together.

At Waterloo, we want children to develop secure knowledge of religious and non-religious worldviews, alongside the confidence to ask thoughtful questions, consider different perspectives and explain their ideas. A worldview is a way of understanding life and the world; it may be religious or non-religious.

Our approach is inclusive and educational. Children learn about beliefs without being expected to adopt them. They learn that people within the same tradition may believe, interpret and practise differently, and that no individual represents an entire community.

Our curriculum approach

We follow the Sefton Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, using enquiry questions to organise learning and build understanding over time.

In Nursery and Reception, the United Learning Early Years Curriculum supports foundations through learning about people, families, communities, stories and celebrations. These experiences connect with the early RE ideas of special people, places, stories, times, belonging and the natural world.

From Year 1, our planned sequence develops knowledge of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hindu traditions, alongside non-religious worldviews, including Humanism. Children revisit important ideas in increasingly demanding contexts, making connections between beliefs, texts, practices and everyday life.

RE is a subject in its own right. It contributes to children’s wider personal development, but its purpose goes beyond encouraging kindness or celebrating difference: children learn specific knowledge that helps them understand religion and non-religion. RE lessons are distinct from assemblies and collective worship.

How learning develops

Phase	Main focus
Nursery	Familiar people, families, special occasions and early awareness of similarities and differences.
Reception	Stories, places, celebrations and communities; beginning to recognise that people have different beliefs and traditions.
Years 1 and 2	Christian and Muslim beliefs, sacred books and places, celebrations, and caring for others and the world.
Years 3 and 4	Beliefs about God, the Bible and Jesus, Jewish family life, Hindu life in Britain, and the significance of festivals.
Years 5 and 6	Connections between beliefs, values and actions; worship, religious expression, Muslim life in Britain, and Christian and Humanist perspectives.

Children move from recognising and describing towards explaining, comparing and interpreting. Increasingly, they use examples and sources to support their thinking and recognise that a question may have more than one considered response.

Our curriculum overview

The table below summarises our planned Year 1–6 enquiries for 2026–27. The downloadable overview provides the full unit titles.

Year group	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Year 1	Christians and their beliefs	Learning from sacred books	Caring for others and the world
Year 2	Muslims and their beliefs	What makes places sacred?	Special and sacred celebrations
Year 3	Different beliefs about God	Why is the Bible important to Christians?	Jewish family life and festivals
Year 4	Why is Jesus inspiring to some people?	Being Hindu in Britain today	Why are festivals important?
Year 5	Living by the values of Jesus	Religious expression: arts, architecture, charity and generosity	Being Muslim in Britain today
Year 6	Why do some people believe God exists?	Worship and the importance of places of worship	What matters most to Christians and Humanists?

What children learn

Our curriculum brings together three connected aspects of learning.

Knowledge of religions and worldviews

Children learn about beliefs, stories, sacred texts, symbols, practices, celebrations and communities. They explore how these connect: for example, how a belief can influence worship, family life or decisions about helping others.

Ways of finding out and thinking

Children learn to ask questions, interpret stories and texts, examine artefacts and consider accounts of people’s lives. They compare perspectives and support their explanations with relevant knowledge. Teachers help them distinguish between what a source says, how someone interprets it and their own response.

Reflecting on perspectives

Children consider how their own experiences and assumptions may influence their understanding. They can reflect on ideas without being required to disclose personal beliefs or reach a particular religious or non-religious conclusion.

The syllabus also connects learning through Believing, Expressing and Living: what people believe, how they express their beliefs, and how these influence their lives.

How we teach RE

Each enquiry begins with a clear question. Teachers explicitly teach the vocabulary, knowledge and examples children need before expecting them to discuss it in depth.

Lessons may draw on stories, texts, photographs, artefacts, film and accounts from members of religious and non-religious communities. Resources are chosen to deepen understanding and represent traditions accurately.

Important ideas are revisited across units. Children might first encounter a sacred book, later explore how it is interpreted, and then consider how its teachings influence someone’s actions. Retrieval, discussion and carefully chosen comparisons help children connect new learning with what they already know.

Teachers check understanding throughout lessons, address misconceptions and help children refine their explanations. Practical and creative activities have a clear RE purpose: exploring the meaning of a symbol, for example, rather than simply making a decoration.

Vocabulary and oracy

As a Voice 21 Oracy School, we use structured talk to help children develop and communicate their understanding.

Children learn to:

• use religious and worldview vocabulary accurately;

• listen carefully and ask questions that deepen understanding;

• build on or respectfully challenge an idea;

• explain a viewpoint using relevant examples;

• recognise the difference between disagreement and disrespect.

Teachers model careful language, such as “some Christians…” or “for this family…”, to avoid suggesting that everyone within a tradition thinks or acts in the same way. No child is expected to speak on behalf of a whole religion or community.

RE and our wider community

Sefton and Liverpool offer opportunities to explore religion and worldviews as part of contemporary life. Where they strengthen a planned enquiry, visits, visitors and local examples can help children understand places of worship, community traditions, charity, art and architecture.

These encounters build on classroom learning. Children are supported to ask informed questions and understand that the person or place they encounter offers one perspective within a wider tradition.

RE in specialist provision

Children in specialist provision access RE through approaches matched to their developmental stages, prior knowledge and communication needs.

In Phoenix and Orion, adapted Sefton enquiries explore beliefs, religious communities, celebrations and ways of living. Teaching uses accessible explanations, concrete examples and repeated opportunities to revisit important ideas.

In Aurora, Pegasus and Lyra, children learn about key religious festivals and special times throughout the year. Stories, objects, symbols, music and adapted experiences introduce ideas about belonging, celebration and what different communities consider special. Learning about religious observance does not require children to adopt a belief or participate in worship.

Across provision, children can show their understanding through speech, signing, symbols, gestures, objects and supported choices. Learning is reviewed annually in light of pupils’ needs and its connections with the wider school curriculum.

Adaptation and inclusion

We maintain high expectations while recognising that children need different support to access RE. Teachers may pre-teach vocabulary, break complex ideas into smaller steps, use visual prompts and artefacts, model responses or provide additional processing time.

Children can demonstrate knowledge through discussion, sorting, sequencing, drawing, supported communication or writing. Difficulty with reading or extended writing should not prevent a child from showing what they understand about an RE enquiry.

Teachers approach sensitive questions thoughtfully, respecting pupils’ family backgrounds and experiences while helping them explore different perspectives.

Assessment

Assessment focuses on what children know, remember and can explain about the taught curriculum. Teachers use questioning, discussion, retrieval activities and responses to enquiry questions to identify secure understanding and the next steps in learning.

They consider whether children can recall important knowledge, use vocabulary accurately, make connections, compare perspectives and support an explanation with examples. In specialist provision, evidence may include recognising a familiar symbol, connecting an object with a celebration or communicating an increasingly clear understanding.

We assess learning in RE, not the nature or strength of a child’s personal beliefs.

What success looks like

Our RE curriculum is successful when children:

• remember important knowledge about religious and non-religious worldviews;

• explain connections between beliefs, practices and everyday life;

• recognise diversity within and between communities;

• ask thoughtful questions and use examples to support their ideas;

• listen, discuss and disagree respectfully;

• make progress from their individual starting points and are ready for their next stage of learning.

Above all, we want children to approach differences with knowledge, curiosity and respect, better equipped to understand the people and world around them.

Parents and carers

Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE. We welcome a conversation with the headteacher to explain our approach and discuss arrangements; this invitation does not limit that right. Further information is available in the government’s guidance on Religious Education.