The RE curriculum is built around three main strands consisting of  ‘Believing’ which focuses on Religious beliefs, the teachings, sources and questions about meaning, purpose and truth. Expressing is the second strand which considers Religious forms of expressing and questions about identity and diversity. The final strand living is based around how people live out their beliefs through practices, ways of life and the values and commitments linked to them.

Year 5 and Year 6 continue with the theme of making connections in different religions to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the variety of faiths studied.

In Autumn 1 Year 5 begin with a focus on the believing strand through the question, ‘Why do some people think God exists?’ This is linked to the questions in Year 1 of ‘Who is a Christian and what do they believe?’ Year 2 ‘Who is a Muslim and what do they believe?’, ‘Who is Jewish and what do they believe?’ and Year 3 ‘What do different people believe about God?’ This is further enhanced through the QRE Unit of Ideas about God.           

The strand of expressing is revisited through the question, ‘If God is everywhere, why go to a place of worship?’ in Autumn 2 This develops understanding from the questions posed in EYFS of ‘Which places are special and why?’, ‘What makes some places sacred?’ From year 2 and ‘Why do people pray? from year 3. Christmas is also revisited building on knowledge gained from previous years.

In Spring 1 the question of ‘What would Jesus do?’ (Can we live by the values of Jesus in the 21st Century) is the area of study taken from the believing strand. This links back to the questions from EYFS ‘Which people are special and why?’ and Year 4 ‘Why is Jesus inspiring to some people?’ This is further enhanced by the QRE unit Jesus the teacher.

The QRE Unit of ‘Why do Christians believe that Easter is a celebration of victory?’ is the area of study in Spring 2. This builds on the previous learning of Easter in all previous year groups.

Summer 1 and 2 raises the question ‘What does it mean to be a Muslim in Britain today?’ This builds on the previous questions of ‘What does it mean to belong to a faith community?’ in Year 1 and from Foundation stage ‘Where do I belong?’’, What does it mean to be a Christian in Britain today? Year 3. This is part of the living strand.