The teaching of Religious Education (RE) is given a high importance in St Mary’s curriculum. We intend to support children in “exploring religion and belief in the modern world – joyfully, creatively and confidently.” We do this through a systematic, spiralling curriculum.

Pupils will spend between 5 and 10% of curriculum time studying RE. One-third of this time will be spent studying religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism and two-thirds will be spent on the study of Christianity.

When teaching Christianity, we follow the Church of England's 'Understanding Christianity' syllabus. This syllabus was written with a desire to see pupils leave primary school with a coherent understanding of Christian belief and practice, as part of a wider religious, theological and cultural literacy. We have adapted Understanding Christianity’s hermeneutical approach and model of “text-connections-impact” along with the Hertfordshire Agreed RE Syllabus and The Emmanuel Project when teaching about other religions and world views.

Our curriculum reflects our local community and our school community. The Welwyn Hatfield area has a higher proportion of practising Muslims and Hindus than the national average, whilst Hertfordshire has a higher proportion of Sikhs and Jewish people than the wider UK. Hence, we give greater prominence to these religions in the makeup of our curriculum so that children can respect the religious and cultural differences of others and contribute to a cohesive and compassionate society. 

We also want to reflect the diversity between and within religions and belief systems. As well as a 'Big Questions and Worldviews week’, in each unit there is space for enquiry and reflection. In this space, a variety of religions can be reflected on (including those outside the six principle we study), as well as world views including Atheism and Humanism. 

Strong links are made with our School Vision, "Flourish for the future“, alongside the twelve values that are the bedrock of our Christian Collective Worship.