RE Curriculum at Hever

As a church school with strong links to our local church, St Peter’s, we place Religious Education at the heart of our curriculum, recognising its vital role in the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of our children. RE is central to bringing our school vision and values to life, guiding the way our pupils learn, reflect, and grow. Our school story, Jesus Walks on the Water (Matthew 14:22–33), provides a meaningful foundation for exploring our school values. It enriches both Religious Education and collective worship, helping children to understand and live out these values in their daily lives.

At Hever School we use the ‘Understanding Christianity’ Syllabus, which focuses on Christianity 'The Big Story of the Bible’. In addition, the school uses the Kent locally agreed syllabus ‘World Faith’ units to study World Faith Stories, Humanism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhi, and Hindu Dharma.  The long term overview for the RE curriculum is set out below.

Aims and objectives of RE in Church Schools

Statement of Entitlement for Church of England Schools, January 2026

In a Church school, RE should enable pupils to:

• Engage meaningfully and critically with learning which helps them to make sense of the multi-religious and multi-secular world in which they live.

• Develop a coherent understanding and knowledge of Christianity as a diverse global living faith through the exploration of beliefs and practices, using approaches which engage with biblical text and key sources of authority.

• Gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religious and non-religious worldviews, appreciating the complexity, diversity, continuity and change that exists within those worldviews being studied.

• Grapple with questions of meaning and purpose raised by human existence and experience.

• Understand the concept of religion and recognise its continuing influence on Britain’s cultural heritage and in the lives of individuals, communities and societies in different times, cultures and places.

• Develop disciplinary knowledge which equips pupils to be religiously literate.

• Explore their personal worldviews; their own religious or non-religious, spiritual and philosophical ways of living, believing and thinking.