Philosophy, Religion and Worldviews
What does it mean to live a good life? Why do people believe different things, and how should we respond when we disagree?
At SHGS, Religious Education, Philosophy and Worldviews gives pupils the knowledge and language to explore some of the questions human beings have asked across cultures and generations.
Girls study religious and non-religious worldviews, learning about beliefs, texts, traditions, practices and the different ways these are understood and lived. Philosophy runs alongside this knowledge from the earliest years, encouraging pupils to think carefully about ideas such as fairness, courage, rules, truth, morality, virtue and what gives life meaning.
Our curriculum is designed in-house around carefully sequenced Big Questions. These questions are not simply used to begin an interesting discussion. Each one gives purpose to a sequence of learning, with pupils building the knowledge, vocabulary and ideas they need before reaching a thoughtful and well-supported response.
The questions grow with the girls. A younger pupil might consider Why do stories need heroes? Later, pupils investigate Why do religions have rules? By Years 5 and 6, they are ready to explore What does it really mean to live a good life?, comparing Christian thinking with Aristotle's ideas about virtue and character.
The aim is not to produce quick answers. It is to give pupils the knowledge and intellectual confidence to engage seriously with important questions.
Intent
Our curriculum helps pupils understand religions and worldviews accurately and in depth, while developing their capacity to reason, question and discuss ideas well.
Girls encounter Christianity, Sikhi and other religious traditions alongside philosophical and non-religious perspectives, including Humanism where appropriate. Important traditions are revisited so that knowledge accumulates rather than being replaced by a new religion each half term.
Pupils also learn that religions and worldviews are not fixed sets of statements followed identically by everyone. Beliefs may be interpreted differently, practices vary between communities, and culture, history and individual experience can all shape the way a worldview is lived.
As philosophical thinking develops, pupils learn to distinguish an assertion from a reason, recognise assumptions, compare arguments and explain why they have reached a particular conclusion. Respectful discussion matters, but respect does not mean avoiding difficult questions or pretending that all viewpoints are the same.
Implementation
From early wonder to philosophical enquiry
The foundations begin in EYFS. Through carefully chosen stories, conversation, visitors and first-hand experiences, children begin to notice that families and communities may believe, celebrate and live in different ways. They develop important vocabulary and explore simple but significant questions about kindness, fairness, promises, courage and what people consider special or important.
This is developmentally appropriate early learning, not formal philosophy pushed down into Reception. It gives children the experiences, language and curiosity from which later religious and philosophical thinking can grow.
As pupils move through the school, Big Questions become more demanding. Why do stories need heroes? allows younger girls to consider courage, goodness, sacrifice and why communities preserve particular stories. Why do religions have rules? asks older pupils to move beyond listing religious instructions and consider authority, guidance and why believers may choose to live in particular ways.
By Years 5 and 6, pupils are able to work with more abstract ideas. In What does it really mean to live a good life?, girls study Christian perspectives alongside Aristotle's virtue ethics, considering different accounts of character, moral choice and human flourishing.
Philosophy is therefore not an occasional extension for older pupils. The habits of questioning, reasoning and listening begin early and become more disciplined over time.
Knowing religions and worldviews well
Depth matters in our school. Pupils acquire secure knowledge of beliefs, narratives, texts, practices and important concepts rather than moving rapidly through a catalogue of festivals and customs. Sikhi has a natural recurring presence within the curriculum, while Christianity and other religious and non-religious worldviews are studied with sufficient depth for pupils to understand the ideas behind what people believe and do.
We avoid easy generalisations. Girls learn that saying “Christians believe...” or “Sikhs believe...” may sometimes conceal important differences of interpretation and practice. As their knowledge grows, they become better able to recognise both what members of a tradition may share and where genuine diversity exists.
Stories, sacred and philosophical texts, historical context, artefacts and lived examples are selected because they help pupils understand the question being studied. Religion is not reduced to visible features such as food, clothing or festivals, although these may be explored where they illuminate deeper beliefs and practices.
Non-religious worldviews form part of this intellectual landscape too. Pupils encounter the fact that people may answer questions about morality, meaning and human purpose from religious, philosophical or non-religious starting points.
Encountering lived belief
From the earliest years, pupils encounter people and communities beyond the classroom.
In EYFS, stories, visitors and experiences help children begin to understand that people may live and believe differently. From Year 1 onwards, girls regularly meet followers of different faiths and visit places of worship linked to their curriculum, including churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras and mandirs.
These encounters have an academic purpose. Pupils arrive with knowledge and increasingly informed questions. They might consider how the design of a building reflects belief, compare what they observe with what they have studied, or ask a practitioner how a belief influences daily life.
Girls also learn an important principle: one visitor cannot speak for an entire religion. Meeting a practitioner gives them access to one authentic lived perspective, which can then be considered alongside texts, other voices and what they already know.
Our relationships with religious communities, knowledgeable visitors and SACRE partners broaden the range of voices pupils encounter and help them understand religion and worldviews as lived realities rather than abstract classroom categories.
Reasoning, dialogue and ambition
Discussion is central to the subject, but it is grounded in knowledge. Girls learn to listen carefully, explain a position, give reasons, question an assumption and respond thoughtfully when somebody reaches a different conclusion. A philosophical discussion is not simply a round of personal opinions. Pupils are expected to draw on what they have learned and, as they mature, to recognise whether an argument is well supported.
Our wider emphasis on oracy strengthens this work. Pupils learn how to disagree respectfully without avoiding disagreement, and how to change or refine their thinking when another argument gives them good reason to do so.
Every girl has access to the intellectual substance of the curriculum. Where additional support is needed, teachers may pre-teach vocabulary, revisit important stories or concepts, use images and artefacts, model reasoning or structure discussion and writing. The question itself is not made less worthwhile.
By the upper years, girls should be increasingly able to draw together religious, philosophical and worldview knowledge, compare positions and construct sustained responses to the Big Questions they study.
Assessment
Assessment considers both what pupils know and how well they can use that knowledge.
Teachers look for secure understanding of the traditions and perspectives studied, accurate use of important vocabulary and concepts, and the ability to make thoughtful connections between beliefs, sources and lived practice.
As pupils mature, greater attention is given to the quality of their reasoning. Their discussion and writing should show that they can compare positions accurately, select relevant knowledge, give reasons and reach conclusions that are supported rather than simply asserted. Responses to the unit's Big Question allow pupils to draw together what they have learned and help teachers identify what needs to be revisited or developed next.
Impact
By the time girls leave SHGS, we want them to possess a substantial and accurate understanding of the religious and non-religious worldviews they have studied and the confidence to engage seriously with ideas different from their own.
They should understand that religions and worldviews are complex and internally diverse, and that understanding another person's position does not require agreeing with it.
They should also have developed strong philosophical habits. Girls should be willing to ask difficult questions, examine reasons, notice assumptions, compare arguments and reconsider a conclusion when their thinking is challenged.
The progression begins with a Reception child wondering what makes an action kind or why something is special to another family. It develops into an older pupil who can compare religious and philosophical accounts of a good life and explain, with knowledge and reasoning, what she has concluded.
That is the intellectual journey we want Religious Education, Philosophy and Worldviews to provide.
Research-Informed Practice
Our approach reflects current thinking in high-quality Religious Education and Religion and Worldviews education.
Ofsted's subject research emphasises depth over superficial coverage. Pupils learn more when important content is carefully selected and revisited, allowing them to understand religious and non-religious traditions with greater complexity rather than collecting disconnected facts.
The Religious Education Council's National Content Standard provides a useful benchmark for an academically rigorous education in religion and worldviews, including breadth, depth, lived diversity and opportunities for informed judgement.
Our EYFS provision is also rooted appropriately in the statutory framework. Within Understanding the World, Reception children are expected to begin recognising similarities and differences between religious and cultural communities through their experiences, stories and what they encounter in class. This provides an appropriate foundation for the more systematic religious and philosophical enquiry that follows.
Selected References
Ofsted. Research Review Series: Religious Education.
Ofsted. Deep and Meaningful? The Religious Education Subject Report.
Religious Education Council of England and Wales. National Content Standard for Religious Education in England.
Religious Education Council of England and Wales. A Religion and Worldviews Approach.
Department for Education. Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework.
Jackson, R. Research on religions, worldviews and intercultural education.
