Religious Education is for all pupils

State-funded schools in England have a responsibility to provide RE for all registered pupils, unless withdrawn by their parents. RE is a necessary part of a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’.

Pottery Primary School has adopted the Derbyshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. 

The right to withdrawal was first granted when religious education was religious instruction and carried with it connotations of induction into the Christian faith. RE has been very different to this for some time. It is inclusive and wide-ranging, exploring a range of religious and non-religious worldviews. At Pottery we firmly believe that RE learning is at the heart of personal development and provides our pupils a grounding that will facilitate maturation into rounded young people, who will have a positive impact on our world.

However, in the UK, parents still have the right to withdraw their children from RE/RME on the grounds that they wish to provide their own religious education. (School Standards and Framework Act 1998 S71 (3)). This will be the parents’ responsibility.