Religious Education (RE) is an integral part of school life and learning at West End. We follow the Leeds City syllabus for the teaching of RE which ensures a rich and varied learning experience across the year groups.  The vision is that through their study of RE, children will gain a greater understanding of the identity and diversity of their local community. They will grow up to live and work as active, purposeful citizens alongside people of all beliefs and cultures, and be challenged to reflect on difficult questions such as the meaning and purpose of life. We believe these are essential skills with which to equip our children for adult life and lifelong learning.

Through the development of RE skills, the children have an opportunity to develop an understanding of and a sensitivity towards different faiths and philosophies to gain insights into religions that enables them to raise questions about the meaning of life.

Teachers at West End have an open and sympathetic approach, which does not impinge on the personal beliefs of either child or adult. We endeavor to encourage respect, empathy, tolerance and acceptance of others to enable our pupils to live and work in today’s multi-cultural world.

Collective Worship

Collective worship takes place daily either as a whole school or in age / phase groups.   The school follows the DFE guidance: “Collective Worship in schools should aim to provide the opportunity for students to worship God, to consider spiritual and moral issues and to explore their own beliefs; to encourage participation and response, whether through listening to and joining in the worship offered; and to develop community spirit, promote a common ethos and shared values and reinforce positive attitudes.  These acts of worship must be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character for the majority of the time…they must also be appropriate, having regard to the ages, aptitudes and family backgrounds of the students.”

We use both the teaching of RE and our collective worship sessions to celebrate the diversity within our school, the local community and wider world in which we live.