R.E. | St Clare's RC Primary School

Religion Curriculum Overview

As a Catholic School, we want to work closely with the home and parish to create an atmosphere where, through teaching and example, our children will be helped to enter into a loving relationship with God our Father and with each other as members of God’s family. Our children will be strengthened by their academic knowledge of the Catholic religion and it's practices in Mass and in daily life, but perhaps more importantly, their spirituality will be nurtured as they question, understand and apply the Catholic teachings to their every day lives.

RE curriculum overview

RE Curriculum Overview

Updated: 19/10/2023 74 KB

At St Clare's R.C. Primary School, we believe that a child’s spiritual, moral and social development is every bit as important as their academic development. This means, in Religious Education, we are not just teaching a curriculum subject but also a living faith.

The following aims and objectives are taken from the Curriculum Directory for Catholic Schools published for the Bishops’ Conference by the Catholic Education Service.

Aims:

Religious Education in Catholic schools aims to promote:

Knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and life
Knowledge and understanding of the response of faith to the ultimate questions about human life, its origin and purpose
The skills required to engage in examination and reflection upon religious belief and practice

Objectives:

The objectives of Religious Education in Catholic schools are:

to develop knowledge and understanding of the mystery of God and Jesus Christ, of the Church and the central beliefs which Catholics hold
to develop awareness and appreciation of Catholic belief, understanding of its impact on personal and social behaviour and of the vital relationship between faith and life, life and death
to encourage investigation and reflection by pupils to develop appropriate skills; for example, ability to listen, to think critically, spiritually,
to acquire knowledge and organise it effectively
to make informal judgements
to foster appropriate attitudes for example: respect for truth, respect for the views of others, awareness of spiritual and moral responsibility and of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life, especially the challenge of living a multicultural, multi faith society. (Curriculum Directory P.10)

Outcome:

The outcome of Religious Education is religiously literate young people who have the knowledge, understanding and skills – appropriate to their age and capacity – to think spiritually, ethically and theologically, and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life. (Curriculum Directory P.6)

We ensure that all our pupils are engaged in RE lessons and adapt our teaching and learning using a graduated response to help ensure inclusivity.

RE Graduated Response

Updated: 21/11/2023 55 KB

Our school policies related to Religion and the Religious life of the school are below.

RE policies 2023

RE Policy

Updated: 21/11/2023 108 KB

Prayer and Liturgy Policy 2023

Updated: 21/11/2023 118 KB

Prayer Progression

Prayer is an integral part of our school day at St Clare's. All children pray each morning, before lunch, after lunch and at the end of each day. Prayer is an important part of our worship as it provides us with the opportunity to communicate with God. During prayer, we raise our hearts and minds to God. Praying helps us to develop spiritually and we know that God has the power to grant our prayers.

Below is a document detailing prayer progression at St Clare's. Children will continue to pray the prayers from previous year groups as they progress through the school.

Whole School Prayer Progression

Updated: 19/10/2023 2.16 MB

CURRICULUM RE

Advent:

During Advent we focus on our spiritual preparation for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. The children start by looking at the fact that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that advent is the time for us to get ready for Jesus' arrival. As children progress in the school, they begin to learn more about the liturgical year of Advent. Children look at the Nativity story, the Annunciation, the Incarnation, the visitation of the Wise Men and the second coming of Jesus Christ.

See the gallery below for some examples of our work throughout the school linked to this topic.

Eucharist : Relating

In this topic we focused on the different parts of the Mass. This started off simply with our EYFS children recognising that we gather together as a family at Mass, listen to God's word and receive Jesus in Holy Communion. This progressed in each year group with children knowing that we re-enact the Last Supper at Mass; learning about the different parts to the Mass; the different prayers and responses we make; and that we are one body in union with Christ. See the gallery below for examples of our pupils' work throughout the school.

Local church : community

In this topic, our younger children learnt that the parish community gathers to celebrate events e.g Baptism, Christmas and weddings. In key stage 1, pupils learnt about our Holy Book, the Bible. This learning progressed to the church's liturgical year, vocations, the structure of a diocese and that God is present in Scripture as the topic progressed throughout each year group. Here are some examples of our work:

Advent:

See the gallery below for some examples of our work throughout the school linked to this topic.

Multi-faith: Islam

For our multi-faith topic this half term the children have been learning about Islam. Each year, the pupils learn more about how their Muslim brothers and sisters live and what they believe. The children learn about different stories, prayers, places of worship, holy books, beliefs, festivals and values.

Below are some examples of what the children have been learning.

Belonging: Baptism and Confirmation

Our second topic is centered around belonging and the Sacraments that we take to be a part of God's family. Children learn that a Sacrament is God's way of being present at special moments in our lives. They begin by learning about the fact that God welcomes everyone and that Baptism is an invitation to belong to the church family. They learn about the Rite of Baptism, godparents and the signs and symbols used. As they progress in the school, they look at the Sacrament of Confirmation, how the Holy Spirit works in our lives, the Sacrament of Marriage, the ministerial priesthood and the Sacrament of Ordination.

See the gallery below for some examples of our work throughout the school linked to this topic.

Multi-faith: Judaism

We live in a multi-cultural society where it is important that we have respect and understanding of other people and their beliefs. This is part of our mission as Catholics and part of our British Values. God gave us the world and we need to learn how to live in peace and harmony with each other. Understanding what and why people have different beliefs plays an important role in this. We are all part of God's family, though we are many parts we all make up Christ's body. Jesus himself was brought up in the Jewish faith following their customs and traditions.

Below are some examples of what our learning of Judaism focused on.

We started off September 2023 by re-visiting our School Mission Statement, its meaning and how we can live it every day. We also learnt about our class saints, our class Scripture quotes and class hymns.

Following this, we began our first topic in our Come and See scheme of work. This centred around families and love. It started off with our younger children knowing that they are loved by God and by our families. It also incorporated looking at Jesus's family and the role Joseph played in his life. At the higher end of the school, the topic progressed onto how God's love is unconditional, we do not need to do anything special to earn it and this was related to the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

See the gallery below for some examples of our work throughout the school linked to this topic.