Standards and Assessment (Wales)

The characteristics of good standards in RE are identified by Estyn as when pupils:

• develop a secure knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of Christianity and the other major faiths represented in Great Britain, as required by the locally agreed syllabus;
• acquire a conceptual framework which helps them to understand religion in general and the specific religion they are studying;
• know how and why believers of various faiths worship, meditate and celebrate their faiths;
• grow to understand the authority that believers ascribe to religious texts and traditions, and to key figures both in the history of religions and in contemporary faith communities;
• are aware of ways in which people's lifestyles, for example their diet, are affected by their religious and other beliefs;
• recognise the importance of religious beliefs in shaping the identity of both individuals and faith communities;
• become increasingly aware of the use of symbolism in religion and of non-literal ways in which religious faith is expressed;
• grow increasingly aware of the questions and issues raised by their experience of the natural world and human relationships, and of the ways in which religious beliefs and practices address these questions and issues;
• acquire a range of skills that enables them to explore religion and human experience for themselves and to express their own reponses to the questions and issues that are raised in the process.