St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School

Religious Education Curriculum Statement

Intent

As a Catholic school, we believe that we are all called to be disciples of Christ and stewards of creation. Through our Mission statement we aim to encourage our children to be part of building and bringing about God’s Kingdom of joy, justice and peace. The aim of our carefully tailored curriculum is for the children to grow in their own spirituality and faith, through their love for God and one another, their learning about and from God and their praise of God and his creation.

Through their lived out experiences in school, we aim to nurture an understanding that the children are part of a global community united through the values of the Gospel. With the Gospels and ‘Laudato Si’ as our inspiration, the children develop an understanding of their role in caring for our common home and caring for one another. We aim to provide an environment where the children will learn about the mission of Christ through careful study and emersion in scripture, which is rooted in experience. Through our curriculum  and the  Catholic life of the school, the children learn how Christ showed tolerance, compassion, justice, love and forgiveness to those most in need and are encouraged to think and ultimately act this out in their own lives.

We develop children’s understanding and knowledge of other faiths and cultures, respecting and appreciating alternative viewpoints. We recognise the social, moral, spiritual and cultural diversity of our communities, and encourage curiosity tolerance and respect, inspiring pupils to understand how life in Britain and the wider world is changing around them.

We aim to develop the children in…

• Joyfully placing scripture at the heart of their worship and prayer
• Engaging and responding to the challenge of the modern world in the context of the Gospel
• Thinking critically about their role as followers of Christ
• Developing their knowledge and understanding of their faith

Implementation

Religious Education is at the centre of everything we do as a Catholic school and permeates through every aspect of the curriculum and school life. We ensure that a minimum of 10% of Curriculum time is allocated for RE teaching across all key stages. The requirements of the RE curriculum are met through the scheme ‘Come and See’ which  in turn meets the requirements of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory set out by the Bishop’s Conference of England Wales. All requirements at St. Patrick’s are met at a standard that equals or is better than those of Literacy at all key stages and Foundation stage.

Through the high standard and exceptional teaching of RE, pupils are inspired to become critical thinkers and to reflect deeply upon their own faith journey. They are challenged through the topics taught, to think about how they put the teachings of the church and Jesus into practise in their own daily lives. The children are encouraged to continually think about their own spirituality and teachers plan opportunities for children to explore this through discussion, lesson, prayer and different forms of Collective Worship. A high priority is given to the formation of pupils in their understanding of, involvement in and service to building the Kingdom of God and taking care of our common home.

Each phase uses the RE Age-Related descriptors from the Bishops’ conference to assess the attainment of the children and their progress is tracked on a termly basis. Teachers also highlight ‘I can statements’ which reflect the children’s learning across a topic. Teachers assess performance across topics and over time. This enables both class teachers and the subject leader to monitor coverage and identify progress made throughout the pupils’ time with us.

The process for delivering the topics in ‘Come and See’ has three stages – Explore, Reveal and Respond which enable the pupils with the development of knowledge, understanding, skills and the fostering of attitudes. The sequence is as follows:

Explore (1 week) This is the introduction to the topic where the children’s life experience is explored, the questions it raises are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected on. This session may include:

• Exploring experiences through music, story, drama, dance or art
• Investigation and story telling
• Consideration of the Big Question
• Discussion
• Reflection

Revelation
Reveal (usually 2 weeks) This is the heart of the programme where knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith is revealed through the Word, in Scripture, Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian living. The process of this delivery will include:

• Meeting new knowledge of Religious Education
• Reflecting on the wonder of the mystery
• Research, collating information
• Asking searching questions
• Discussion
• Making links between Cristian understanding and the shared life experiences
• Acknowledging and respecting differences
• Being open to new perspectives.

Response
Respond (1 week) This is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. This may be carried out through:

• Creating a quiet, prayerful atmosphere for reflection
• Reviewing work carried out throughout the topic
• Sharing thoughts and feelings

OTHER FAITHS and RELIGIONS

Judaism is usually studied in the Autumn term, however this can vary due to the needs of the school. The other religion to be studied is either Hinduism, Islam or Sikhism – the religion focus is carefully selected with consideration given to the most relevant and appropriate in light of each class and current local, national or world-wide events.

Impact

As a result of our RE provision, children at St. Patrick’s:

• Are well prepared for the next stage of their education as confident and enthusiastic learners.
• Produce good quality work which they are proud of.
• Achieve consistently well in all areas of Religious Education and make exceptional progress.
• Are happy, well rounded individuals who have developed a deep-rooted relationship with God and understanding of their Catholic faith.
• Are ambassadors for Christ who are ready to go out into the world and proclaim the values of the Gospel confidently, building the Kingdom of God through compassion, justice, love and forgiveness in their relationship with others.
• Understand that they are part of the family of God and know how they can play their part in this Global family united by Christ.

The right of withdrawal from Religious Education and/or Collective Worship

Parents of pupils  are permitted, by law, to request that their child is withdrawn from receiving all or part of religious education and/or collective worship given at the school and any such request shall stand until such time that a parent’s request is withdrawn.

What happens to the pupil if he/she is withdrawn from Religious Education and/or Collective Worship?

If pupils are withdrawn from religious education and/or collective worship, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra costs.

Depending on the resources available to the school, the withdrawn pupil may be moved to another venue within the school, for example, the library, or perhaps in a very small school with limited resources, the pupil may remain in the RE classroom but will not participate in the RE lesson.  If the pupil is moved to another area within the school, they must be supervised.

As with most things, we would always advise parents to discuss this with the school in advance of any request being made  so that all of the implications can be discussed in detail

It is important to bear in mind that the parental right to withdraw a child from RE was intended by Parliament to be a ‘conscience clause’ and not to be used as a general opt-out clause.