Religious Education in Church schools must meet the requirements of The Church of England Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education in Church Schools. Currently schools should be use the 2019 document, however from September 2026 schools must meet the requirements of the new document. Both can be accssed below.
The Church of England Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education in Church Schools 2019.
Church of England Statement of Entitlement for Religious Education in Church Schools 2026
Religious Education is an important part of living out your school’s Christian vision and values.
Church schools in the Diocese of Guildford should use the Surrey Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education 2023-2028. This was formally approved, and the syllabus adopted, at a full DBE meeting on May 9th 2023, for implementation from 1st September 2023. All statutory information and non-statutory support materials can be found linked from the Surrey Agreed Syllabus page.
The only exceptions to this are the four voluntary controlled schools in Hampshire who must use the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus Living Difference.
If you have any questions about RE in your church school, please contact Paula Bliss
We offer regular training for all those involved in delivering RE in schools. Details and booking for RE training for school staff are on GDBE elevate.
Training for clergy and church visitors is arranged via Jane Whittington our School and Church Partnerships Advisor. Details are found here. School and Church Partnerships
• A termly Primary RE Subject Leaders Briefing. These are an opportunity to receive updates about RE and some professional development to take back to school. There are sessions for Church Schools and for Community schools, so it is important that RE subject leaders book and attend the correct session.
• We provide induction training for new RE Subject Leaders. There are bespoke sessions for Church Schools and for Community schools, so it is important that RE subject leaders book and attend the correct session.
• Individual sessions on a variety of aspects of RE for teachers and subject leaders.
• Training for clergy and church visitors who support RE in their local school. This may be a church school or a community school.
• Courses, staff meetings and inset days to provide CPD in all aspects of teaching and learning in RE.
If you have any questions about RE in your church school contact Paula Bliss.
ExploRE Days
In 2010, Guildford Diocese published a set of resources called ‘Pause Days’, designed to augment Church schools’ RE provision and provide opportunities to deepen pupils’ thinking. Since the publication of these resources, the RE syllabus used by schools has been significantly updated and so we are now revising our ‘Pause Days’, aligning them with approaches in the Surrey Agreed Syllabus (& the new content) and re-launching them as ‘ExploRE Days’.
The ExploRE Easter materials
provide opportunities to reinforce elements of this most important narrative for Christians, complementing and expanding on the theological concept of salvation. They also provide lots of opportunities for pupils to talk – great for boosting oracy skills! There are also some suggestions in the materials for how your local church community might be able to support the sessions, deepening school-church partnerships, and providing an opportunity to highlight diversity across the Christian community.
ExploRE Easter: Journeys
The ExploRE Easter: Journeys materials include
- Materials to use in collective worship at the beginning and end of the day
- Phase-specific suggestions, designed to link with and build on pupils’ existing RE learning. These can be downloaded separately, along with any resources
- A cross-phase ‘Godly Play®’ style option, with a chance to tell the story and then respond to it creatively
- Suggestions for cross-phase reflective / prayer spaces, extending the reach of the resource and further supporting the spiritual development of your pupils
The ExploRE Easter: Journeys materials are designed to be used on alternate years with the 2nd ExploRE Easter resource (which will be updated in time for Easter 2027). As with all our materials, care should be taken to adapt it to suit the context, needs and abilities of your pupils.
ExploRE Easter Journeys Materials
Click on the ExploRE Easter Journeys Materials link above to access the materials.
Pause Day Resources
Pause Days are an exciting initiative first created in our diocese in 2010. They give schools an opportunity to engage with some high-level thinking and reflection during an ‘off-timetable’ RE day, which also contributes to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development.
These Pause Day resources are not intended to replace the statutory RE units, but to provide ‘space’ to enhance and deepen pupils’ understanding. There are Pause Day materials for Easter and Pentecost.
The materials have been written for phases so that teachers can work together to create the day. The expectation is that schools plan their pause day using the Easter Journeys materials one year and then Easter Witnesses Materials the following year. This way pupils will experience all of the sessions with the exception of EYFS.
Below are the original 2010 materials.