ABSTRACT
A preliminary to any approach to good practice in religious education must be a consideration of the meaning of the religious in religious education. The Education Reform Act is concerned, among other things, that children should have an entitlement to a 'balanced and broadly based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school. The Education Reform Act divides the years of compulsory schooling into four key stages: 5-7 years, 7-11 years, 11-14 years and 14-16 years. Smart's seven dimensions of religion are: the practical and ritual dimension; the experiential and emotional dimension; the narrative and mythic dimension; the doctrinal and philosophical dimension; the ethical and legal dimension; the social and institutional dimension; the material dimension. Although the dimensions can each be identified and studied separately, they are all facets of the same activity and, as such, are interrelated and interconnected indissolubly.
