RE is taught at Selby Community Primary School to ensure that children have an understanding of religious and non-religious worldviews as ideas and practices which have shaped and continue to shape our world.

Religious education explores big questions about life, in order to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can make sense of religion and worldviews and reflect on their own ideas and ways of living. 

Understanding this gives our children an ability to be educated citizens of Selby, The United Kingdom and The World.

At Selby Community Primary School, we strive to promote understanding of, and interest in, the major religious and non-religious worldviews, in accordance with the North Yorkshire Syllabus for Religious Education. We believe at this school that RE both supports and strengthens what we aim to do in every aspect of school life.  Our caring ethos and the value which we place on the development of the whole child; spiritually, morally, socially, culturally and intellectually, is reflected in the RE curriculum.

Our aims for Religious Education at Selby Community Primary School are:

  • All pupils will acquire and develop knowledge and understanding about the principal religious and non religious worldviews practised in Great Britain.  Christians, Muslims, Jewish people, Hindus and Humanists are studied in depth
  • All pupils will develop an understanding of the influence of beliefs, values and traditions on individuals, communities, societies and cultures, including the local community.
  • All pupils will develop the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues with reference to the teachings of the principal religious and non-religious worldviews.

All pupils will enhance their own spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by:

  • developing awareness of the fundamental questions of life and how religious beliefs and practices can relate to them
  • responding to the fundamental questions of life with reference to religious beliefs and practices
  • reflecting on their beliefs, values and experiences
  • expressing their own viewpoints in a thoughtful, reasoned and considerate way
  • All pupils will recognise the right of people to hold different beliefs within an ethnically and socially diverse society. As a Rights Respecting school, we introduce the children to the articles within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that refer to religious belief and practice, and encourage them to understand and promote these amongst themselves and in the wider community.
  • Article 14 states that every child has the right to think and believe what they want and to practise their religion.
  • Article 30 maintains the right of every child to learn and use the language, customs and religion of their family.

In addition to learning in the classroom, we broaden the children’s experience through visits to places of worship and by faith visitors coming into school. We celebrate Harvest, Christmas and Easter with visits to our local church St James’ or to Selby Abbey. We also have close links with King’s Church, who visit us termly for assemblies.

We are committed to ensuring that all children make excellent progress in their knowledge, understanding and skills in RE. Our expectations for what should be achieved by the end of each year group are divided into three aims:

  1. Know about and understand a range of religious and non religious worldviews.
  2. Express ideas and insights about nature, significant and impact of religious and non-religious worldviews.
  3. Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religious and non-religious worldviews.

Please follow these links to – 

The public extract version of the new syllabus

The RE curriculum sequence 

Our Key stage expectations for RE