At Highwoods, the children are encouraged to learn about different religions, world views, cultures and spiritual beliefs through our RE curriculum. This is achieved through assemblies, inviting in guests and a diverse and sensitive curriculum. The children learn about different religions from each other, and they are invited to share and discuss their beliefs with their peers.  

 We encourage visitors from different faith groups to visit so that our children get the opportunity to learn first-hand about the beliefs and practices of people of faith. We have had Hindu students from Essex University come in to demonstrate a Puja Ceremony to Year 1 pupils and Mr Harkirat Singh from the Sikh Education Service came in to share his life as a Sikh with us. We have also had Buddhists from Colchester Buddhist Centre and Humanists from the Humanist Society come in to talk to our Year 6 pupils. We have strong connections to the local church, St Luke’s (Highwoods), and Messy Church. Each year group has the opportunity to have workshops run by Messy Church, where leaders teach about a particular area of Christianity. We are hoping to have more faith visitors in the future.

Since October 2022, we have been following the Essex Agreed Syllabus 2022,  ESSEX SACRE (A Religious Education for the Future). The curriculum is an enquiry-based scheme of work, which encourages the children to ask questions and discuss topics. We teach our children to think about religions through theology, philosophy and human and social sciences. Each year group covers 5 enquiry questions and uses Retrieval Practice to consolidate their previous learning as they move on through the school.