Religious Education (RE) at Bawnmore Community Infant School

Intent

At Bawnmore, Religious Education (RE) helps children explore some of life’s big questions:

• Who am I?
• What do people believe?
• What is important in life?

Through our RE curriculum, children are introduced to a wide range of world views — including both religious and non-religious perspectives — in a safe, inclusive and respectful way.

Using the Coventry & Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus, our enquiry-based approach allows children to explore different beliefs, values and traditions through real stories, sacred texts, celebrations, personal experiences and local history. We encourage children to recognise similarities and differences between world views while developing respect, empathy and curiosity.

By the end of KS1, children begin to make sense of the world views they encounter and reflect on their own emerging understanding of what matters to them.

Implementation

• RE is taught weekly across EYFS and KS1 through carefully structured enquiry questions.
• Our curriculum introduces children to a wide range of world views, including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan and Humanist perspectives.
• Each unit explores key concepts such as Belonging & Believing, Wisdom & Guidance, Personal Responsibility, Authority & Power, Living Well, and Reconciliation & Peace, ensuring progression from Nursery to Year 2.
• In EYFS, children begin by exploring belonging, sacred stories, and how people know how to treat each other.
• In Year 1, children build on this through enquiries about personal responsibility, sacred texts, shared beliefs and the different ways people express their world views.
• In Year 2, children explore deeper questions about who Jesus is, where people find authority and inspiration, and how local history (such as the Coventry Blitz) continues to shape world views today.
• A strong emphasis is placed on the lived experience of faith and belief, using storytelling, artefacts, visitors, real-life examples and local community links to bring learning to life.
• Where possible, visits to local places of worship and Coventry Cathedral support children’s learning about sacred spaces, peace and reconciliation.
• Disciplinary knowledge is developed throughout, as children explore world views through theology (beliefs and texts), philosophy (big questions), human & social sciences (lived experience) and history (local context and change over time).

Impact

By the end of KS1, children:

• Can talk about a range of religious and non-religious world views with confidence, curiosity and respect.
• Understand that different people may hold different beliefs, and begin to explain how those beliefs influence the way people live.
• Recognise that people’s world views are shaped by family, community, culture and personal experience.
• Use appropriate vocabulary to talk about sacred stories, celebrations, important people, and moral choices.
• Understand that world views can be personal, communal and organised.
• Develop empathy, tolerance, respect and a growing understanding of their own and others’ values.
• Begin to reflect on their own world view and how it shapes the choices they make.

SEND and Inclusion

• RE at Bawnmore is fully inclusive and accessible to all children.
• Teaching is adapted to meet individual needs through the use of visuals, simplified language, practical activities, scaffolded discussions and adult support.
• Children’s personal and family experiences are valued and serve as a starting point for meaningful discussions.
• The enquiry-based approach allows every child to access learning at their level and contribute their own thoughts and experiences.