Religious Education
Religious Education (RE) at Smithdown Primary School
Intent
At Smithdown Primary School, together we grow through understanding, respect and reflection. Our Religious Education (RE) curriculum is designed to celebrate diversity and promote tolerance, empathy and mutual respect for all people — regardless of faith or belief.
We aim to provide every child with a broad and balanced understanding of world religions and non-religious worldviews, supporting them to explore life’s big questions about meaning, values and identity. RE at Smithdown plays a central role in promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, helping them develop curiosity about the world and compassion towards others.
Our intent is for all pupils to:
-
Develop knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and beliefs, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and non-religious perspectives such as Humanism.
-
Recognise the influence of religion on individuals, families and communities both locally and globally.
-
Reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences in a safe and supportive environment.
-
Cultivate skills of critical thinking, respectful dialogue, ethical reasoning and empathy.
-
Appreciate how diversity and shared values contribute to life in modern multicultural Britain.
Implementation
Religious Education is taught weekly across all year groups, following the Liverpool Agreed Syllabus, which provides a rich, progressive framework for exploring faith, belief and worldviews.
Our teaching approach is enquiry-based and experiential, encouraging pupils to ask “big questions” and explore answers through investigation, reflection and discussion.
Learning in RE is organised around three key strands that run throughout the curriculum:
-
Believing – exploring religious beliefs, teachings and sources.
-
Expressing – examining how beliefs are expressed through worship, celebrations, symbols and practices.
-
Living – understanding how beliefs influence daily life, moral choices, identity and community.
We bring RE to life through stories, artefacts, visits, visitors, drama, art, and music, helping children connect knowledge with experience. Lessons are inclusive and accessible, with adaptations made to ensure that pupils with SEND and EAL are fully supported and able to participate meaningfully.
Children also learn through cross-curricular opportunities, assemblies and themed events that promote British Values and interfaith understanding. Wherever possible, local links are made so that pupils can see how faith and belief are reflected in their own community.
Progression is carefully mapped across the school, building from early curiosity and awareness in EYFS to critical reflection and understanding by the end of Key Stage 2.
Impact
By the time pupils leave Smithdown Primary School, they:
-
Have developed a respectful understanding of a wide range of religious and non-religious worldviews.
-
Can articulate their own beliefs and values clearly and confidently, while showing empathy and respect for others.
-
Understand the importance of religion and belief in shaping culture, community and personal identity.
-
Recognise shared human values such as kindness, fairness and compassion.
-
Are prepared to live and contribute positively in a diverse, democratic and multicultural Britain.
We measure the impact of RE through:
-
Pupil voice – showing curiosity, engagement and thoughtful reflection.
-
Work scrutiny and lesson observations – demonstrating progression in knowledge, vocabulary and understanding.
-
Discussions and reflections – where pupils show respect, reasoning and a deepening appreciation of faith and belief.
Our RE curriculum helps pupils grow as inquisitive, reflective and open-minded learners, who understand that difference enriches our community and our world. Through RE, we nurture the values at the heart of our school motto — “Together We Grow.”
Parental right to withdraw their child from Religious Education (RE)
The right to withdraw your child from RE was first granted in 1944 when RE was called ‘Religious Instruction’ and carried with it connotations of induction into the Christian faith. However RE is very different now and is very open and broad; exploring a range of religions and non-religious worldviews.
Our RE curriculum is a subject that celebrates diversity and gives children an understanding of the similarities and differences between faiths. We do not teach any religion as true or untrue. We firmly believe that it is your absolute right to bring your child up following your religious tradition but this religious nurture happens at home, not in RE lessons. In our RE lessons, pupils are finding out about what different people believe and how they practise their religion. In their future lives, our pupils will need to work and live alongside people from a range of religious backgrounds so it is essential that they know enough about other religions to do this respectfully and successfully. We want our children to understand that they can hold their personal beliefs whilst being respectful of others who may hold different views. We believe that our RE curriculum supports our one school rule of showing Kindness and Respect.
Parents can only withdraw their children from RE – no other curriculum areas. For example, pupils cannot be withdrawn from a study of religious art in and art lesson.
If, after reading the above documentation, you are still considering withdrawing your child from RE on the grounds that you will provide your own RE education, then we ask that parents arrange a meeting with a member of the senior leadership team to discuss your wishes.
A copy of our policy on the right to withdraw your child from RE is available on request.
Religious Education Chatter
Eid Celebrations
19-03-2026
Yesterday, Year 5 enjoyed making Eid cards ready for celebrations tomorrow!
Eid Mubarak
Our world is beautiful
18-03-2026
In RE we read the story of Bilal and the butterfly fro, the Quran. We then talked about the things in our world that we find beautiful and that we are thankful for.
Eid celebrations
17-03-2026
We are preparing to celebrate Eid by making decorations and talking about how each family celebrates together.
Y5 trip to the mosque
04-03-2026
Yesterday, the children in Year 5 went to visit Al-Rahma mosque in Liverpool. We learnt all about the 5 pillars of Islam, features of the mosque and prayer. The children shared a lot of their own information and even demonstrated some of the prayers. 
Favourite Books
25-02-2026
We started our new RE topic today – Sacred Books,
we started by thinking of our own favourite books and shared them with each other.
We then watched the parable of the two frogs and thought about what the special message was.
Chinese new year!
12-02-2026
This afternoon we have has so much fun in our workshop. We have learned all about the dragon dance and different dances that are performed to celebrate the new year. We even got to have a go at it ourselves! We have also been looking at Chinese lanterns and designed our own for the celebration.
Festive Feasts – Chinese New Year
12-02-2026
Last week, year 4 used clay to make Chinese food. This week, they painted these and created a Chinese New Year feast table. Creativity skills were put to the test and the children made lanterns and fans to add more detail to our table. 🧧🇨🇳🥡🥢🥠 The children then received their very own fortune from fortune cookies.
Chinese New Year Workshop 🧧
12-02-2026
We were very lucky today to attend a Chinese New Year workshop where we practised a Chinese dance with fans and parasol ☂️ 🐉 🇨🇳
We are learning about Luna new year and have painted our good luck message and created lanterns by ripping paper.
10-02-2026
Art Final Piece
05-02-2026
We have merged our art topic (festive feasts) and our R.E. topic (festivals and celebrations) to sculpt food out of clay to represent Chinese New Year. The children worked together to create a ‘feast’ on their tables and then showcased the skills learnt from this topic to create these foods. The children absolutely loved this. 🇨🇳🥠🥢
We will paint these next week once our clay has dried.
Diwali Celebrations in Reception
09-11-2025
We had a great time making Diwa lamps, making Diwali cards, sharing the story of Rama and Sita, creating Diwali celebration food, tasting some of the foods that may be eaten during Diwali and watching the lighting of the Diwa lamps.
Diwali celebrations
17-10-2025
We made some special Diwali sweets, Diwali cards and shared some Diwali foods . Happy Diwali to everyone!
Learning about Diwali in Y5
17-10-2025
We have had a wonderful time learning about Diwali and more about the Hindu religion. We heard the story of Rama and Sita and why Hindus celebrate this important festival. We were even gifted some Diva lamps to decorate – which we loved! 
Diwali lamps
16-10-2025
We have been leaning all about the celebration Diwali. We made Diwali lamps out of salt dough and decorated them with bright coloured paint and glitter. Don’t they look amazing!
Celebrating Diwali – Festival of Light
16-10-2025
We really enjoyed our special workshop today learning all about the festival of Diwali. We listened to stories, made patterns, dressed up and danced!
Diwali Workshop
15-10-2025
We loved our Diwali workshop today. Thank you to our special visitors.
Diwali workshop
15-10-2025
Year 2 had so much fun learning how Diwali is celebrated. We loved making Rangoli patterns and Dancing!
Diwali Celebration
15-10-2025
We had a wonderful workshop this morning to celebrate Diwali and reinforce the work we have already done in Hinduism. We listened to a story, danced and created lanterns.
Hindu Worship: Puja
02-10-2025
Today, we looked at items that are used to create a puja tray. We talked about why these items are important to Hindus and how they are used in daily worship. The children worked very hard and remembered lots of new words.
Eid Al-Adha
11-06-2025
Yesterday we celebrated Eid. They produced beautiful posters related to how Eid has changed over the last 150 years (linked to our 150th school celebration).
Celebrate Eid !
10-06-2025
Today the children have enjoyed coming to school in their own clothes to celebrate Eid.
Celebrating Eid Al- Ahad
10-06-2025
Thank you to our parent volunteers, hennaliverpool.com and Hennabyinaaya for helping us to celebrate Eid Al-Ahad.
