Religious Education
At Thurston Primary Academy we believe it is essential to learn from and about religion to develop our children / pupils understanding and acceptance of the multi-cultural world around them. By developing our pupil’s knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other principle faiths we aim to ensure that they have an appreciation of all faiths and beliefs, demonstrate tolerance towards those of different faiths or cultural backgrounds and celebrate diversity both within our school community and the wider world. As a result, this enables our children to develop their ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues and be open minded and ready to see thing things from different perspectives.
RE is taught every week throughout the school and plays an important role alongside PSHE in promoting social awareness and understanding in our children. They are encouraged to ask questions about the world and to reflect on their own beliefs and values.
The school uses The Emmanuel Project, to support and guide the teaching and learning of RE across all key stages. Produced by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich the scheme incorporates all aspects of the Suffolk agreed syllabus for KS1 & KS2. Each half term unit focuses on a key question and a key concept about the religion being studied and the sequence of lessons uses the enquiry cycle to support children to explore the concept. As a Church of England school, the RE curriculum is split equally between the teaching and learning of Christianity and that of other religions. In Early Years, children learn about Christianity throughout the year and learning opportunities for other religions and faiths are fostered through stories and planned activities around celebrations and festivals.
At Thurston Primary Academy, through the curriculum coverage and progression we aim to build and deepen the children’s knowledge and understanding of religion and beliefs, developing their religious vocabulary and their own ability to understand and consider their own values and beliefs. At the end of each half term pupils are given opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the key question and key concept they have been learning about in the RE unit. By the end of each Key Stage, pupils are expected to understand and apply skills related to the two attainment targets and learning themes embedded within the Emmanuel Project.
Curriculum Documents
World Religion Day 2026
On Friday 16th January, children across the school spent the day learning about World Religion Day. It aims to promote understanding, tolerance, unity and peace between all religions and encourages all faiths to come together to celebrate diversity and shared spirituality and core values.
In school children were took part in activities and discussions about spirituality and unity, explored the similarities and differences between the main religions and considered how religion encourages peace, harmony and tolerance.
