At Wilstead we believe that Religious Education contributes dynamically to children and young people’s education by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about deities, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.

We follow the ‘Agreed Syllabus’ for Bedford Borough, Central Beds and Luton. This aims to ensure that all pupils can: 

Make sense of a range of religious and non religious beliefs

Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs

Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas

Three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching, give a structure for the teaching in each unit:

Making sense of beliefs

Making connections

Understanding the impact

In RE we learn about and from religions and worldviews in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. We learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response, and to agree or disagree respectfully.  At Wilstead Primary School, we believe that these are essential skills and knowledge that all pupils need to be able to develop in order to play a full part in modern multicultural Britain. We believe that the knowledge and skills taught explictly through our RE curriculum closely align with the values and ethos of Wilstead itself.

In order to deliver the aims and expected standards of the syllabus effectively, we make an allocation of 5% curriculum time for RE:

36 hours per year in Reception and KS1

45 hours per year in KS2

It is generally taught for an hour per week, with additional days of more intensive study scheduled for events such as ‘Inter Faith Week’.  

Parents have a right to withdraw RE lessons by drawing on the 1996 Education Act, which states that a parent can request that for their child to be wholly or partly excused from religious education and religious worship in the school.  If you wish to do so, then please contact me through the School Office. We will arrange a meeting to discuss your decision and to put in place a learning plan for your child to follow during these times.

Faith Assemblies

Every week we hold a whole school assembly to welcome visitors and share stories from a range of different faiths.  If you would be interested in sharing a story from your faith, then please contact Mrs Webb at nwebb@wilstead.school.

Faith Tours

Queen’s Park in Bedford is rich in both culture and religion, with Christians, Muslims, Sikhs (and others of all faiths and none) living together in harmony. Our three main faith communities have places of worship within three hundred metres of each other, and faith leaders have developed a ‘Faith Tour’ for schools and other organisations. 

The Queen’s Park Faith Tour provides an opportunity for schools to:

• bring R.E. alive through first hand experience
• enhance the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils
• experience community cohesion at work in a rich and diverse neighbourhood

Years 3 and 6 enjoyed their Faith Tour in January 2023, and we hope to make the visit annually to enable different year groups to experience the different places of worship.