Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education

What is a locally agreed syllabus?

An agreed syllabus specifies what must be taught in religious education within an authority. It should be reviewed every five years. The SACRE elects a group called an agreed syllabus conference to review the syllabus. Once agreed, all schools are required to teach in accordance with the syllabus, with the exception of voluntary aided schools, academies and those with a trust deed which specifies otherwise.

Cheshire West and Chester agreed syllabus for Religious Education 2024

How much time is given at each key stage for religious education?

• Schools must allocate sufficient time and resources to ensure that the expectations of the agreed syllabus can be met and that children are given experiences that are coherent and meaningful.
• Schools must ensure that teachers of religious education are enabled to teach the requirements of the agreed syllabus. This will have implications for their professional development.
• Schools must allocate sufficient resources for pupils to be fully engaged in their learning and reach the highest possible standards in religious education.
• It is required that during all key stages a non-religious world view will be taught.
• The requirements of the syllabus cannot be fulfilled unless 5% of curriculum time is allocated to the teaching of Religious Education. Cheshire West and Chester SACRE recommend the following to meet the expectations of the syllabus; EYFS during the Summer Term should be moving towards the requirement for KS1
  • KS1 36 hours a year (e.g. 50 Minutes a week)
  • KS2 45 hours a year (e.g. one hour per week)
  • KS3 45 hours a year (e.g. one hour per week)
  • KS4 40 hours a year (e.g one hour per week core provision)
  • KS5 Allocation of time for RE should be identifiable f

• Special Schools – sufficient time should be allocated to RE and World Views to ensure that the school curriculum is balanced, progressive and ambitious.

Please read the document below on Statutory Time and Content.

What is taught in the Cheshire West and Chester Agreed syllabus for RE?

EYFS

Children should experience enquiry based RE related activities mainly from Christianity with Hindu Dharma (Diwali) and Islam (Eid al-Fitr) and other world religions which contribute to the Foundation Stage curriculum requirements. These should reflect the worldviews of pupils and families within the class.

KS1 (Years 1 and 2)

• Christianity 2 Terms
• Judaism 1 Term
• Islam 1 Term
• Humanism ½ Term
• Comparing Worldviews (In The Beginning) ½ Term
• Free Choice Enquiry Units for the school to decide 1 Term.

KS2 (Years 3 and 4)

• Christianity 2½ Terms
• Hindu Dharma 1 Term
• Islam ½ Term
• Judaism ½ Term
• Humanism ½ Term
• Free Choice Enquiry Units for the school to decide 1 Term

KS2 (Years 5 and 6)

• Christianity 1½ Terms
• Islam 1 Term
• Sikhi 1 Term
• Comparing Worldviews (Diversity, Equality and Justice, Science and Belief) 1 ½ Term
• Free Choice Enquiry Units for the school to decide 1 Term

KS3 (Years 7, 8 and 9)

• Christianity 1 ½ terms
• Islam and Judaism 1 ½ terms
• Hindu Dharma, Sikhi and Buddhism 2 terms
• Humanism and Alternative world views – 1 term
• Theological, Sociological and Philosophical issues – 3 terms (explored from Christian and other worldviews of teacher’s choice)

KS4 (Years 10 and 11)

Those following an external examination pathway are deemed as meeting the requirements of the Agreed Syllabus.

5 terms for non-examination groups (allowing for Year 11 GCSE exams in Summer Term)

Theological, Sociological and Philosophical issues (explored from Christian and other worldviews of teacher’s choice) for non-examination groups

KS5 (Years 12 and 13)

5 terms (allowing for Year 13 A Level exams in Summer Term)

One of the topics below should be covered each term. Therefore, five topics to be covered during KS5. These should be explored from Christian and other worldview perspectives allowing for teacher free choice. The themes included are:

• Existence of God
• Impact of worldviews on morality
• Normative ethical approaches to medical ethic
• Impact of worldviews in issues of conflict on a personal, community and global level
• How different individuals and communities to live together respectfully for the wellbeing of everyone.
• How religious beliefs and practices have changed over time.
• Impact of religion on science and the arts
• Impact of personal faith and values on individual behaviour
• Ethical issues involved in global issues such as population growth, the environment, famine and thirst, migration, modern slavery.

The Statutory and Supporting Documents of the Cheshire West and Chester Agreed Syllabus can be found below.