RE
Intent
Careers Opportunities in RE
The study of Religious Education (RE) develops critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and cultural awareness—skills that are highly valued across a wide range of careers. RE provides an understanding of different beliefs, values, and worldviews, making it an excellent foundation for careers in law, politics, journalism, social work, counselling, psychology, diplomacy, and human rights. It is also particularly relevant for roles in education, religious leadership, charity work, community engagement, and international relations.
Beyond directly related fields, RE fosters strong communication and analytical skills, which are sought after in business, public service, and media industries. Employers and universities value the subject for its emphasis on empathy, debate, and ethical decision-making, ensuring that students who study RE are well-equipped for a variety of future pathways.
Year 7 Curriculum Overview
Autumn
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
|
Introduction to RE
Sikhism |
You will be able to explain RE is and what philosophy is; where our beliefs originate, how they help us question the world, and develop our understanding of who we are.
You will learn key knowledge about the world religion Sikhism; its beliefs/celebra:ons, its customs, and its people |
You will be able to articulate your new learning with confidence using subject specific language. You will be able to explain how your learning in the classroom links to the wider world and their lives now and in the future. You will feel empowered to be able to discuss big questions about religion, beliefs and how we investigate a subject with many opinions. You will be able to recall key information and explain verbally and through your written work why people do or do not have these opinions and/or follow that faith. |
Low stakes quizzes In-class practice Instant feedback Summative assessment |
Spring
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
| Judaism | You will learn that Judaism is a monotheistic religion with Abraham as the founding father. You will be able to explain key elements of religion, such as Moses and the Ten Plagues, the Ten Commandments and the Tanakh (holy scriptures), especially the Torah. You will be able to describe how Jewish people celebrate Pesach (Passover) and explain the Seder meal. You will understand that Judaism is a very old religion, older than Christianity, and the people follow the word of God as presented by Moses. You will develop your debate and evaluation skills, be able to analyse sources, interpret people’s opinions, and compose extended writing pieces. |
You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the key knowledge of Judaism. You will confidently explain key words and use them in appropriate contexts. Your responses to questions, both spoken and written, will develop and improve, using more sophisticated language and providing extended responses. You will deeply consider other points of view and be able to make meaningful links between this topic and the learning gained in the Christianity unit. You will be able to explain how your learning in the classroom links to the wider world and your lives now and in the future. | Low stakes quizzes MCQ In-class practice Instant feedback Questioning Whole Class Feedback Summative assessment |
| How do we celebrate our faiths? | You will learn key religious literacy, terminology, and key words. You will investigate the most significant festivals from four major religions (with links to other festivals), why faiths have such festivals, how the celebration is observed. You will understand that whilst all faiths and religions have special festivals, there are many similarities between them. You will learn that often the emphasis is on giving thanks and praise for acts of kindness or life-providing elements such as light. You will further develop your debate and evaluation skills, source analysis skills, interpretation skills, critical thinking skills, and composing extended writing skills. You will show empathy and respect for other people’s opinions and customs. |
You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the key religious festivals across a number of world religions and be able to explain the function and purpose of each, whilst describing how the followers celebrate. You will investigate the celebrations to find the commonality and similarities between them. You will confidently explain key words and use them in appropriate contexts. You will deeply consider your learning in the classroom and how it links to the wider world and your lives now and in the future. |
Low stakes quizzes MCQ In-class practice Instant feedback Questioning Whole Class Feedback Summative assessment |
Summer
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
|
What does it mean to live a ‘good’ life? (Living) |
You will build on your prior knowledge learnt throughout Year 7 to investigate how faith guides people’s lives (particularly focusing on Christianity and Buddhism) and how we can be moral without religion (investigating Humanism). You will understand the fundamental rules that Christians and Buddhists live by and how these rules shape their lives and the decisions they make. You will learn about the role of charity within religions and society, how our behaviour is influenced by our morals/religion and/or what’s legal, considering the difference between what’s morally acceptable and what’s legal. You will employ your investigating skills to delve into the lives of people of faith and those who live without to be able to explain their points of view. You will use your inquiry and empathy skills to gain knowledge and see another person’s perspective. You will describe how other people live, debate and discuss key ideas by interpreting scenarios. You will make use of your analytical skills, critically thinking about the stories we read. You will think spiritually as well as reflect morally on the outcomes or decisions made by others. You will reflect on your own thoughts and compose extended writing pieces to evaluate and critique ideas. You will use your religious literacy with confidence. |
You will complete the learning activities with dedication and accuracy, striving to complete the extension and challenge tasks. You will understand the key terms we learn and how to use them effectively in sentences. You will be able to recognise and dispel misinformation and misunderstandings and compose thoughtful responses using more than one point of view to reach your own conclusion. You will be able to apply your learning to the wider world. You will confidently recite key knowledge, such as what makes the UK such a welcoming country. You will actively listen to more than one point of view and participate in debates to discuss opinions with sensitivity and understanding, whilst also being able to devise a two-sided response having considered other people’s opinions. |
Instant feedback MCQ Teacher questioning Written work in the lesson Whole Class Feedback |
|
What is good/challenging about being a religious teenager in modern Britain? (Living)
|
You will learn about the positives and challenges of maintaining a faith in the modern world, given the distractions and the demands on our time. You will learn about the contrast between the ‘western’ worldviews and ‘eastern’ religions, learning about the culture and languages of different religions, such as Sikhism and Hinduism. You will draw on your previous British Values knowledge to investigate why people are exempt from the law, how discrimination is challenged, and why certain religions are positively or negatively portrayed in the media. You will learn about why some young people hold their religion more closely to their identity than others, and what makes being a young person of faith is sometimes tricky in the twenty-first century. You will learn how religions use spiritual methods such as meditation and how the western world has taken such practices into our everyday lives.
You will employ your investigating skills to delve into the lives of people of faith and those who live without to be able to explain their points of view. You will use your inquiry and empathy skills to gain knowledge and see another person’s perspective. You will describe how other people live, debate and discuss key ideas by interpreting scenarios. You will make use of your analytical skills, critically thinking about the stories we read. You will think spiritually as well as reflect morally on the outcomes or decisions made by others. You will reflect on your own thoughts and compose extended writing pieces to evaluate and critique ideas. You will use your religious literacy with confidence. |
You will complete the learning activities with dedication and accuracy, striving to complete the extension and challenge tasks. You will understand the key terms we learn and how to use them effectively in sentences. You will be able to recognise and dispel misinformation and misunderstandings and compose thoughtful responses using more than one point of view to reach your own conclusion. You will be able to apply your learning to the wider world. You will be able to recall key information to justify your points or use them to refute an argument offered by another. You will confidently recite key knowledge, such as what makes the UK such a welcoming country. You will actively listen to more than one point of view and participate in debates to discuss opinions with sensitivity and understanding, whilst also being able to devise a two-sided response having considered other people’s opinions. |
Instant feedback MCQ Teacher questioning Written work in the lesson Whole Class Feedback |
Year 8 Curriculum Overview
Autumn
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
|
Comparative religions
Hinduism |
You will learn about the similarities between the main world religions and how cohesion can be built between different communities.
You will learn the key information about the world religion, Hinduism; its beliefs, its customs, its celebrations, and its people. You will consider the big questions linked to Hinduism regarding reincarnation. |
You will be able to articulate your new learning with confidence using subject specific language. You will be able to explain how your learning in the classroom links to the wider world and their lives now and in the future. You will feel empowered to be able to discuss big questions about religion, beliefs and how we investigate a subject with many opinions. You will be able to recall key information and explain verbally and through your written work why people do or do not have these opinions and/or follow that faith.
Students will be able to recall key information and explain why people do or do not have these opinions and/or follow that faith. |
Low stakes quizzes In-class practice Instant feedback Summative assessment |
Spring
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
| Judaism | You will learn that Judaism is a monotheistic religion with Abraham as the founding father. You will be able to explain key elements of religion, such as Moses and the Ten Plagues, the Ten Commandments and the Tanakh (holy scriptures), especially the Torah. You will be able to describe how Jewish people celebrate Pesach (Passover) and explain the Seder meal. You will understand that Judaism is a very old religion, older than Christianity, and the people follow the word of God as presented by Moses. You will develop your debate and evaluation skills, be able to analyse sources, interpret people’s opinions, and compose extended writing pieces. |
You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the key knowledge of Judaism. You will confidently explain key words and use them in appropriate contexts. Your responses to questions, both spoken and written, will develop and improve, using more sophisticated language and providing extended responses. You will deeply consider other points of view and be able to make meaningful links between this topic and the learning gained in the Christianity unit. You will be able to explain how your learning in the classroom links to the wider world and your lives now and in the future. |
Low stakes quizzes MCQ In-class practice Instant feedback Questioning Whole Class Feedback Summative assessment |
| How do we celebrate our faiths? | You will learn key religious literacy, terminology, and key words. You will investigate the most significant festivals from four major religions (with links to other festivals), why faiths have such festivals, how the celebration is observed. You will understand that whilst all faiths and religions have special festivals, there are many similarities between them. You will learn that often the emphasis is on giving thanks and praise for acts of kindness or life-providing elements such as light. You will further develop your debate and evaluation skills, source analysis skills, interpretation skills, critical thinking skills, and composing extended writing skills. You will show empathy and respect for other people’s opinions and customs. |
You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the key religious festivals across a number of world religions and be able to explain the function and purpose of each, whilst describing how the followers celebrate. You will investigate the celebrations to find the commonality and similarities between them. You will confidently explain key words and use them in appropriate contexts. You will deeply consider your learning in the classroom and how it links to the wider world and your lives now and in the future. |
Low stakes quizzes MCQ In-class practice Instant feedback Questioning Whole Class Feedback Summative assessment |
Summer
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
|
How are religions represented in our society? (Expressing) |
You will draw on your prior knowledge of the main religions we have already studied, both Abrahamic (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and Dharmic (Buddhist, Hinduism, Sikhism) to interpret the world we see. You will understand where and why we see religion reflected in our real lives (such as in art, music, places of worship, etc.). You will develop an understanding of how stereotypes and the negative portrayal of religions are damaging to community cohesion and our multicultural society. You will learn about the charitable work of religions, especially during particular festivals and how we can use religion to help reduce -isms and -phobias to strengthen and develop a more accepting society.
You will employ your investigating skills to delve into the lives of people of faith and those who live without to be able to explain their points of view. You will use your inquiry and empathy skills to gain knowledge and see another person’s perspective. You will describe how other people live, debate and discuss key ideas by interpreting scenarios. You will make use of your analytical skills, critically thinking about the stories we read. You will think spiritually as well as reflect morally on the outcomes or decisions made by others. You will reflect on your own thoughts and compose extended writing pieces to evaluate and critique ideas. You will use your religious literacy with confidence. |
You will complete the learning activities with dedication and accuracy, striving to complete the extension and challenge tasks. You will understand the key terms we learn and how to use them effectively in sentences. You will be able to recognise and dispel misinformation and misunderstandings and compose thoughtful responses using more than one point of view to reach your own conclusion. You will be able to apply your learning to the wider world. You will be able to recall key information to justify your points or use them to refute an argument offered by another. You will strive to accomplish a depth of knowledge across a number of key religious/spiritual ideas. You will confidently recite key knowledge, such as what makes the UK such a welcoming country. You will actively listen to more than one point of view and participate in debates to discuss opinions with sensitivity and understanding, whilst also being able to devise a two-sided response having considered other people’s opinions |
Instant feedback MCQ Teacher questioning Written work in the lesson Whole Class Feedback |
|
What does it mean to live a ‘good’ life? Does it matter when we die? (Living and Believing)
|
You will build on your prior knowledge learnt throughout Year 8 to investigate how faith guides people’s lives (particularly focusing on Christianity and Buddhism) and how we can be moral without religion (investigating Humanism). You will understand the fundamental rules that Christians and Buddhists live by and how these rules shape their lives and the decisions they make. You will learn about the role of charity within religions and society, how our behaviour is influenced by our morals/religion and/or what’s legal, considering the difference between what’s morally acceptable and what’s legal. You will learn about different religious and worldviews perspectives on death and whether how we live our lives really matters once we’re dead. You will employ your investigating skills to delve into the lives of people of faith and those who live without to be able to explain their points of view. You will use your inquiry and empathy skills to gain knowledge and see another person’s perspective. You will describe how other people live, debate and discuss key ideas by interpreting scenarios. You will make use of your analytical skills, critically thinking about the stories we read. You will think spiritually as well as reflect morally on the outcomes or decisions made by others. You will reflect on your own thoughts and compose extended writing pieces to evaluate and critique ideas. You will use your religious literacy with confidence. |
You will complete the learning activities with dedication and accuracy, striving to complete the extension and challenge tasks. You will understand the key terms we learn and how to use them effectively in sentences. You will be able to recognise and dispel misinformation and misunderstandings and compose thoughtful responses using more than one point of view to reach your own conclusion. You will be able to apply your learning to the wider world. You will confidently recite key knowledge, such as what makes the UK such a welcoming country. You will actively listen to more than one point of view and participate in debates to discuss opinions with sensitivity and understanding, whilst also being able to devise a two-sided response having considered other people’s opinions. |
Instant feedback MCQ Teacher questioning Written work in the lesson Whole Class Feedback |
Year 9 Curriculum Overview
Autumn
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
|
Introduction to Ethics
Buddhism |
You will learn about how humans balance their morals, their rights, and their responsibilities with the big questions that exist in modern society such as humans’ impact on the world, the value of life, and euthanasia.
You will learn the key knowledge about the world religion, Buddhism; its beliefs, its customs, and its people. |
You will be able to articulate your new learning with confidence using subject specific language. You will be able to explain how your learning in the classroom links to the wider world and their lives now and in the future. You will feel empowered to be able to discuss big questions about religion, beliefs and how we investigate a subject with many opinions. You will be able to recall key information and explain verbally and through your written work why people do or do not have these opinions and/or follow that faith. |
Low stakes quizzes In-class practice Instant feedback Summative assessment |
Spring
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
| Judaism | You will learn that Judaism is a monotheistic religion with Abraham as the founding father. You will be able to explain key elements of religion, such as Moses and the Ten Plagues, the Ten Commandments and the Tanakh (holy scriptures), especially the Torah. You will be able to describe how Jewish people celebrate Pesach (Passover) and explain the Seder meal. You will understand that Judaism is a very old religion, older than Christianity, and the people follow the word of God as presented by Moses. You will develop your debate and evaluation skills, be able to analyse sources, interpret people’s opinions, and compose extended writing pieces. |
You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the key knowledge of Judaism. You will confidently explain key words and use them in appropriate contexts. Your responses to questions, both spoken and written, will develop and improve, using more sophisticated language and providing extended responses. You will deeply consider other points of view and be able to make meaningful links between this topic and the learning gained in the Christianity unit. You will be able to explain how your learning in the classroom links to the wider world and your lives now and in the future. |
Low stakes quizzes MCQ In-class practice Instant feedback Questioning Whole Class Feedback Summative assessment |
| Why is there suffering in the world? | You will learn in depth from different religious and spiritual ways of life about their view of suffering, and how people within a religion or world view understand and live with suffering in the world around them. You will understand Buddhists point of view on this issue and develop the skills needed to appreciate and appraise various responses to the big questions, as well as develop responses of your own. You will have opportunities to explore sociological issues through religion in the modern world. Skills: Debate and evaluation skills, source analysis skills, interpretation skills, composing extended writing skills. You will further develop your debate and evaluation skills, source analysis skills, interpretation skills, critical thinking skills, and composing extended writing skills. You will show empathy and respect for other people’s opinions and customs. |
You will demonstrate a clear understanding of how different religions support and guide their followers when dealing with hardship and suffering. You will critically evaluate the idea that suffering may be a natural human state to which there is no solution and offer theological, philosophical, and/or psychological reasons for arguing that religions exist to help humans cope with suffering, fear and despair. You will confidently explain key words and use them in appropriate contexts. You will deeply consider other points of view and be able to make meaningful links between this topic and the wider world. | Low stakes quizzes MCQ In-class practice Instant feedback Questioning Whole Class Feedback Summative assessment |
Summer
| What are we learning? | What knowledge, understanding and skills will we gain? | What will excellence look like? | How will we recognise progress? |
|
How are religions represented in our society? (Expressing) |
You will draw on your prior knowledge of the main religions we have already studied, both Abrahamic (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and Dharmic (Buddhist, Hinduism, Sikhism) to interpret the world we see. You will understand where and why we see religion reflected in our real lives (such as in art, music, places of worship, etc.). You will develop an understanding of how stereotypes and the negative portrayal of religions are damaging to community cohesion and our multicultural society. You will learn about the charitable work of religions, especially during particular festivals and how we can use religion to help reduce -isms and -phobias to strengthen and develop a more accepting society.
You will employ your investigating skills to delve into the lives of people of faith and those who live without to be able to explain their points of view. You will use your inquiry and empathy skills to gain knowledge and see another person’s perspective. You will describe how other people live, debate and discuss key ideas by interpreting scenarios. You will make use of your analytical skills, critically thinking about the stories we read. You will think spiritually as well as reflect morally on the outcomes or decisions made by others. You will reflect on your own thoughts and compose extended writing pieces to evaluate and critique ideas. You will use your religious literacy with confidence. |
You will complete the learning activities with dedication and accuracy, striving to complete the extension and challenge tasks. You will understand the key terms we learn and how to use them effectively in sentences. You will be able to recognise and dispel misinformation and misunderstandings and compose thoughtful responses using more than one point of view to reach your own conclusion. You will be able to apply your learning to the wider world. You will be able to recall key information to justify your points or use them to refute an argument offered by another. You will strive to accomplish a depth of knowledge across a number of key religious/spiritual ideas. You will confidently recite key knowledge, such as what makes the UK such a welcoming country. You will actively listen to more than one point of view and participate in debates to discuss opinions with sensitivity and understanding, whilst also being able to devise a two-sided response having considered other people’s opinions. |
MCQ Teacher questioning Written work in the lesson Whole Class Feedback |
|
What does it mean to live a ‘good’ life? Does it matter when we die? (Living and Believing)
|
You will build on your prior knowledge learnt throughout Year 8 to investigate how faith guides people’s lives (particularly focusing on Christianity and Buddhism) and how we can be moral without religion (investigating Humanism). You will understand the fundamental rules that Christians and Buddhists live by and how these rules shape their lives and the decisions they make. You will learn about the role of charity within religions and society, how our behaviour is influenced by our morals/religion and/or what’s legal, considering the difference between what’s morally acceptable and what’s legal. You will learn about different religious and worldviews perspectives on death and whether how we live our lives really matters once we’re dead. You will employ your investigating skills to delve into the lives of people of faith and those who live without to be able to explain their points of view. You will use your inquiry and empathy skills to gain knowledge and see another person’s perspective. You will describe how other people live, debate and discuss key ideas by interpreting scenarios. You will make use of your analytical skills, critically thinking about the stories we read. You will think spiritually as well as reflect morally on the outcomes or decisions made by others. You will reflect on your own thoughts and compose extended writing pieces to evaluate and critique ideas. You will use your religious literacy with confidence. |
You will complete the learning activities with dedication and accuracy, striving to complete the extension and challenge tasks. You will understand the key terms we learn and how to use them effectively in sentences. You will be able to recognise and dispel misinformation and misunderstandings and compose thoughtful responses using more than one point of view to reach your own conclusion. You will be able to apply your learning to the wider world. You will confidently recite key knowledge, such as what makes the UK such a welcoming country. You will actively listen to more than one point of view and participate in debates to discuss opinions with sensitivity and understanding, whilst also being able to devise a two-sided response having considered other people’s opinions. |
Instant feedback MCQ Teacher questioning Written work in the lesson Whole Class Feedback |
