At Hawley Primary school, we promote the highest standards of achievement by all pupils regardless of ability, religion or ethnic origin. All pupils, whether of a particular faith or none, will be equally valued and provided for through our broad and balanced curriculum. As a school we aim to celebrate diversity and encourage an inclusive environment where all children can participate in RE and express their views. It is important to over negative stereotypes towards religion that may be brought to school, to allow all religious beliefs expressed and taught to be respected. 

By building on from Early Years work about understanding the world, we aim to support children to develop their knowledge of different religions and understanding of different worldviews. We support them to develop the skills they need to question, debate, compare and critically assess different answers to ‘big’ human questions.  

Religious education plays a central and vital role in our school. It contributes to pupils' personal development and well-being by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society, within the British Values. It encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging and has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment, and lifelong learning. Also, it enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. Half termly Religious Education (RE) days, with a focus on faith and values, enable pupils to explore key world religions reflecting on similarities and differences. Children will also spend one day completing ‘Pondering Time’. This is a child led enquiry into different faiths and values. This will occur through using a concept base approach from the Living Difference IV Syllabus to allow children to develop the understanding of how a concept is an important aspect of one or more religions. 

We encourage children to express their own opinions, contributing to the learning of others as well as developing skills in listening through considering alternative views and beliefs. We encourage children to be open-minded when learning about religion so that they can learn a variety of religious beliefs. Curiosity is a key factor in RE as we want to children to enquiry about what religion means to them, beginning to see the bigger picture of the diverse world they are a part of. 

The school has a good relationship with the local community and is situated near Holy Trinity Church in Hawley. The school works closely with the local priest who visits school during the year. The children also have opportunities to visit the church at different times during the year such as Harvest and Easter.