RE Curriculum
RE at St Joseph’s
Intent
We are a Catholic school and we are committed to the Catholic Faith, recognising and valuing every individual as special and unique in the image and likeness of God.
“It is necessary, therefore, that Religious Education in schools be regarded as an academic discipline with the same systematic demands and the same rigour as other disciplines. It must present the Christian message and the Christian event with the same seriousness and the same depth with which other disciplines present their knowledge. However, it should not simply be regarded as one subject among many, but should be the key element in an inter-disciplinary dialogue.” (Curriculum Directory 2012 p.3)
- We believe Religious Education to be ‘the core of the core curriculum.’
- We believe Religious Education is central to the educative mission of the Church.
- Religious Education will be planned, taught, assessed and monitored with the same rigour as other curriculum subjects.
- We understand Religious Education to be the systematic study of the teaching of the Church and the mystery of Christ.
- We use the Religious Education Curriculum Directory as the foundation of our curriculum
- We use the Come and See scheme to support the content of the RECD
We aim to help each child through their primary education years:
- To grow in love and service of God and each other and
- To develop a deeper commitment to the Catholic faith and Christian living.
We therefore endeavour to:
- Offer an education to the highest possible standard with a curriculum that meets the needs and aptitudes of each child.
- Foster awareness and understanding of the Catholic faith for every child through prayer, study and liturgy
- Work to develop the spiritual growth of the individual and the school community
- Promote friendship, respect and goodwill both within the school and also in the wider community.
Implementation
At St. Joseph’s we follow the ‘Come and See’ Religious Education Programme in line with guidance from the Diocese of Westminster. This programme is followed throughout school from Nursery through to Year 6.
This programme provides:
- Ppportunities for celebration, prayer and reflection in implicit and explicit ways.
- Children who are religiously literate
- A 'systematic presentation of Christian event, message and way of life' in ways appropriate to the age and stage of development of the child.
- That for its implementation and production it requires the adults involved to understand the underlying theological as well as educational principles.
- Appropriate materials about other faiths.
The programme explores the religious dimensions of questions about life, dignity and purpose within the Catholic tradition. Links are made with the children's own experience and with universal experience. It will raise questions and provide material for reflection by the children on their own experiences. It will enable them to explore the beliefs, values and way of life of the Catholic tradition and where appropriate other faith traditions.
OVERVIEW OF CONTENT
'Come and See' is taught through a series of 9 topics exploring:
Community of faith – Church
Celebration in ritual – Sacraments
Way of life – Christian Living
Other faith traditions are also explored through discreet topics.
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.
In line with Bishops’ Conference recommendations, 10% of curriculum time is allocated to Religious Education. This does not include Celebration of the Word
Planning:
Teachers are trusted to make professional decisions based upon the needs of their pupils and plan to these accordingly.
We use the RECD and the skills framework to plan with. The learning objectives of lessons are from the task verbs on the skills framework.
Specific groups of pupils:
Teachers learn more about the needs of Disadvantaged pupils through Pupil Premium interviews.
All disadvantaged and SEN students are targeted in lessons through effective questioning, which focuses on a skill that needs developing.
TAs support these pupils at various points within their learning.
Use of Adaptive teaching to support learners
Assessment:
Assessment is ongoing through RE, children are assessed against the skills framework. This is done throughout topics and is tracked termly on insight.
Monitoring of pupils learning:
Learning walks and lesson observations.
Discussions with pupils about their learning.
Book looks and work scrutiny
Internal and external moderation both at Deanery and Diocesan level against the Skills framework.
Visits from the Diocesan Adviser
Staff CPD:
Staff meetings/inset time
External courses run by the Diocese
RE leader attends Deanery and Diocesan meetings
Impact
- Religiously literate and engaged young people who have the knowledge and skills appropriate to their age and capacity
- Children who can reflect spiritually and who can think ethically
- Pupils who are aware of their religious commitment in their everyday lives.