Religious Education at Westfield Primary School 

Intent 

At Westfield Primary School and Nursey, our vision is to provide a high-quality RE curriculum that nurtures curiosity, respect, and understanding of diverse religions and worldviews. Through Kapow Primary’s scheme, we aim to develop pupils who are deep thinkers, open-minded about others, and reflective about their own beliefs. 

Our ethos of Excellence, Expectation and Environment underpins all RE learning: 

• Excellence: Pupils will gain secure, progressive knowledge of key religious and non-religious worldviews, exploring “big questions” that challenge them to think critically and make meaningful connections. 

• Expectation: We encourage all children to engage thoughtfully with different perspectives, ask challenging questions, and articulate their own views with confidence, respect, and resilience. 

• Environment: We foster a safe, stimulating space where children can explore sensitive issues, encounter diversity positively, and consider their own personal worldviews. 

Through this approach, pupils develop knowledge of religious beliefs, practices, texts, and values, while also growing in empathy, respect, and their ability to live harmoniously with others. 

 

Implementation 

We follow Kapow Primary’s Religion and Worldviews curriculum, which is carefully sequenced and built around three strands: 

• Substantive knowledge – understanding core concepts, beliefs and practices across different religions and worldviews. 

• Disciplinary knowledge – learning how to study and interpret religion through enquiry, evaluation and interpretation. 

• Personal knowledge – reflecting on one’s own views, experiences and positionality. 

Key features of our implementation: 

• A spiral curriculum: Key concepts and “big questions” are revisited across EYFS, KS1 and KS2, deepening understanding over time. 

• Progressive units: Pupils study Christianity in depth alongside other principal religions and worldviews represented in Britain. In EYFS, learning co
• ferent perspectives. 
• nnects to Understanding the World ELGs. 

• Enquiry-led approach: Each unit is framed by a focused question (e.g. What makes us human? or Why do worldviews change?), encouraging children to explore, compare, and evaluate beliefs. 

Additional enrichment at Westfield: 

• We welcome weekly visits from leaders at St Mary’s Church, Northchurch
•  and Northchurch Baptist Church, who lead assemblies and support pupils in developing a practical understanding of Christian faith. 

• We have hosted a visit from a Rabbi, allowing children to gain first-hand insight into Jewish traditions and teachings. 

• Classes have visited Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford, providing a memorable opportunity to experience Hindu worship, festivals and culture in context. 

• Each year we celebrate Harvest and Christmas at St Mary’s Church, where classes perform songs and share their learning as part of community worship. 

Our curriculum also makes links with PSHE, SMSC and British Values, embedding 

• RE into the wider life of the school through assemblies, visits, and celebrations. 

 

Impact 

The impact of RE at Westfield is seen in children who are: 

• Meeting or exceeding expectations in line with EYFS, KS1 and KS2 outcomes fro
• m the Hertfordshire Agreed Syllabus. 

• Developing secure knowledge of key concepts such as beliefs, practices, belonging, wisdom and guidance. 

• Building strong enquiry skills: investigating, interpreting, evaluating and expressing ideas about worldviews. 

• Using an expanding and precise vocabulary to discuss religion and worldviews fluently. 

• Recognising the diversity within and between religions and non-religious worldviews. 

• Showing empathy, respect and open-mindedness when encountering dif

• Embracing challenge and demonstrating resilience when exploring “big questions,” reflecting the school’s growth mindset ethos. 

• Feeling confident and safe to share personal reflections within a calm and respectful environment. 

Ultimately, pupils leave Westfield Primary as thoughtful, respectful and informed individuals, equipped for life in modern Britain and prepared to thrive in secondary school RE and beyond.