At Barrow CEVC Primary School, we believe that a high-quality religious education (which we call 'Beliefs and Values') will help pupils’ gain a coherent knowledge and understanding, where they can articulate clearly and confidently their personal beliefs, ideas, values and experiences.

Beliefs and Values is taught using the ‘Emmanuel project ‘which is a Suffolk agreed RE syllabus 2014 however, it was refined and updated in 2023 to continue to meet the needs of the curriculum and deepen understanding. The carefully selected content of the Emmanuel project enables us to provide a consistent whole school approach to RE and is sequenced to link learning between other subjects where possible.

Progression is evident through building upon the pupil’s prior knowledge, allowing them to follow the steps of engaging, enquiring and exploring the different religions, leading to the process of evaluating and expressing to ensure understanding and progress is made. The new step of 'extending' has been added in 2023 to make the enquiry cycle deeper and more complex. This should inspire and build each child’s ‘religious literacy’, helping them to understand the nature and diversity of religion and belief in the world in which they live and the relationships between different groups of society.

New emphasis has been put on the question 'Where Do I Stand?' o encourage learners to consider their own as well as a range of world viewpoints. The learning lenses of theology, philosophy and human social sciences have been brought in to help children deepen their thinking.

RE offers distinctive opportunities to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development allowing time for reflection, discussion, dialogue and debate.