Desford Primary School is a Community School maintained by Leicestershire Local Authority. We do not have any formal religious affiliations and therefore have no obligation to address the teaching of Religious Education from an explicitly denominational perspective (as would a Church school).

There is no National Curriculum for Religious Education (RE) although all schools have a statutory obligation to provide for this area of learning.

Religious Education at Desford Primary is based on the Leicestershire Agreed Syllabus. This has been produced by the Local Authority in collaboration with Leicestershire representatives of the world’s major faiths. The syllabus allows schools to develop pupil’s knowledge of   religions in a balanced and objective way. The aim is to inform and definitely not to instruct.  Themes from the Agreed Syllabus are dealt with alongside other areas of the curriculum in cross-curricular topics and will be dealt with alongside for example, aspects of Personal, Social and Health Education, or History and Geography.

The Leicestershire Agreed Syllabus is attached to the bottom of this page.

The Agreed Syllabus also provides the basis for the weekly assembly themes planned for the entire year. We have visitors from various faiths who enrich the children’s experience but who do not involve pupils in explicitly religious activities. While we are obliged by law to provide a daily Act of Worship of a broadly Christian nature, we take a liberal view of what this looks like (within the law) and pupils are not required to pray, or participate in other religious activities.

The assembly themes are followed up in classwork during the week and at a level appropriate to the age of the children.

The weekly whole -school assembly schedule for the entire year 2016/17 is available here.

Parents are entitled to withdraw their child(ren) from  assemblies and RE lessons and can do this by contacting the school. We hope that parents will not take this step and will be reassured by our approach to assemblies and RE as outlined above. We want children to leave Desford Primary School well-informed about the religions and religious practices they will encounter in Leicestershire, and in the wider world.