At Mawnan, Religious Education is an ambitious and important part of our curriculum. As a Church of England school, our RE curriculum reflects our Christian foundation and our school vision:
Using our God-given gifts to let our light shine.
We want every child to develop a rich understanding of Christianity alongside a thoughtful and informed understanding of a range of religious and non-religious worldviews. RE helps our children to be curious, ask meaningful questions, listen respectfully to others and develop their own understanding of the world.
Our vision reflects the principal aim of the Cornwall Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2025–2030:
To explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils develop the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage with questions raised by religion and worldviews and reflect on their own ideas and ways of living.
Through RE, children learn to:
make sense of religious and non-religious worldviews;
understand the impact of beliefs on people, communities and ways of living;
make connections between the ideas they study and wider questions about life and the world.
Our curriculum reflects the Church of England Religious Education Statement of Entitlement 2026, which describes RE as enabling every child to flourish.
RE at Mawnan is a high-profile academic subject, distinct from collective worship. It is taught in an objective, critical and pluralistic way, giving children a safe and supportive space in which to explore Christianity, other religious traditions, non-religious worldviews and their own developing personal worldview.
Christianity is the main religious worldview studied and accounts for at least 50% of our RE curriculum. Our teaching of Christianity is supported by Understanding Christianity, enabling children to engage deeply with biblical texts, Christian concepts, beliefs and practices.
Our RE curriculum is informed by the Cornwall Agreed Syllabus 2025–2030 and carefully adapted to our Church school and Cornish context.
Children encounter Christianity and a carefully sequenced range of religious and non-religious worldviews:
Reception: Christianity alongside other religious and non-religious worldviews through children's growing understanding of themselves and their community.
Key Stage 1: Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Key Stage 2: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and non-religious worldviews, including Humanism.
The new syllabus also strengthens the place of Curriculum Kernewek, allowing children to explore religion and worldviews through Cornwall's distinctive heritage and communities.
Children do much more than learn facts about religions. They learn to think and enquire like theologians and increasingly draw upon different ways of knowing, including:
Theology – exploring beliefs, sacred texts and sources of authority
Philosophy – asking and thinking deeply about questions of meaning, truth and existence
Human and social sciences – exploring how people live out their beliefs in different communities, cultures and contexts
This helps children develop strong religious literacy, enquiry, interpretation, analysis, evaluation and reflection.
Our lessons may include discussion, enquiry, art, drama, stories, sacred texts, artefacts, music and first-hand encounters with people and places of faith. We want children to encounter living worldviews and recognise diversity both between and within religious and non-religious traditions.
Most importantly, every child is entitled to succeed in RE. Teaching is inclusive and adapted so that pupils with SEND and those who may experience disadvantage can participate fully, think deeply and achieve highly.
The syllabus is based around a key question approach, where the questions open up the content to be studied. The syllabus gives key questions to help you to deliver the statutory Programmes of Study. Our children encounter core concepts in religions and beliefs in a coherent way, developing their understanding and their ability to handle questions of religion and belief.
The teaching and learning approach has three core elements, which are woven together to provide breadth and balance within teaching and learning about religions and beliefs, underpinning the aims of RE.
Religious Education at Mawnan may be taught through Art, Drama, Storytelling and investigating artefacts. We are fortunate to have access to resources from the Cornwall library service. We encourage children to develop a knowledge of the rich tradition of religious art and music; responding and reflecting on what they may learn from it. Where possible, we try to bring in visitors and take children out to experience religion in the real world.
We believe that the Christian values underpinning our education will enable the children to become confident, reflective, spiritual and morally aware people who can play a role in shaping modern Britain.