Intent – Curriculum RE

As a Catholic School our aim at St Paul’s is to help all of our children know and love God through the scriptures and the life of Jesus, promote knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and life and enable children to consider the big questions about the origin and purpose of creation.

Religious Education is more than a curriculum subject. It is something that leads and permeates every area of our school.

We use the ‘God Matters’ scheme of work.  Children study nine topics most of which are linked to the liturgical year: Creation, Prayer, Saints and feasts, Advent, Christmas, Revelation, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost and Sacraments.

Parents are kept fully informed of what the children are studying, our close relationship with the church of St Joseph where we follow the liturgical life of the church by attendance and active participation in the Mass and the Sacraments and the children’s involvement with CAFOD and local charities establishes the children’s appreciation of the close links between home, parish and the wider world which is crucial to our faith.

We have a rich liturgical life in that the experiences we provide are wide ranging and take place in school, out of school, in Church and the wider community, and engage and involve pupils, parents, staff, governors and the parish.

 

Implementation of the Programme of Study:

Reception. We introduce God as our creator and explore ways of talking to God through prayer.

Stories of Jesus’ life are introduced in line with the Liturgical calendar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 1. We introduce and help children to recognise stories from the Bible and how events from Jesus’ life affected those around him.  We begin to look at forgiveness and healing.

Year 2. We study Bible stories in more detail and provide children with the opportunity to retell them in a variety of different ways. We examine how people in the past and present have responded to God’s word.

Year 3. Children will be encouraged to see the links between different Bible stories and the impact Jesus had and has on those around him.

Year 4. We will focus on stories from the Bible in greater depth to explore their meanings.  We will consider the impact of prayer and how we prepare for certain feasts and sacraments.

Year 5. Through the study stories Jesus told we examine our understanding of the Kingdom of God, what it means to be People of God, especially through the words of St Paul and the Beatitudes.

Year 6.  Children will analyse and evaluate stories from Scripture, voice their own opinions and express their appreciation of how the lives and beliefs of others’ affects the decisions they make.

Diversity

We teach other world religions within our topics, highlighting the similarities between our beliefs to develop tolerance and respect for other faiths, races and cultures.  

SEND

We aim to make our curriculum accessible to all.  We use a wide range of media to introduce and teach the content of lesson including story, film, music and pictures.  We offer a range of ways for the children to demonstrate their learning including art and drama as well as the written words.  Support and extension activities ensure that all children have access to this subject.

Oracy

Each lesson is introduced with an element of discussion, giving the children to opportunity to talk about what they know and want to know.  Activities include debate, hot seating and role play

 

Impact

The children will grow to know and love God, develop their moral and spiritual nature and deepen their faith. 

They will live their out faith in an active and positive way, always aware of the presence and love of Christ guiding them. They will develop their relationship with God and become religiously literate through religious practice, the church’s traditions of prayer and worship will be upheld

Children of all abilities and backgrounds will be able to achieve well in RE, reflected in outstanding progress that reveals a clear learning journey. They will confidently use the skills they have learnt to use; such as retelling, describing, comparing, giving reasons, explaining the meaning of biblical stories and considering the impact of beliefs. The children will be able to talk enthusiastically about their learning in RE and will be eager to further their learning in the next stages of their education.

Children will be able to reflect and consider important questions about RE.

They will come to know about a wide variety of Saints and how we can learn from their example. They will be able to make links between Jesus’ life and teaching and link it to their own lives, making links between different forms of Christian action.

The school environment will reflect and celebrate our Catholic faith.