Intent
As a Catholic school the Religious Education provided is in conformity with the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
St Catherine's provides a Catholic Education, which is an integral part of the life of the school.
Religious Education is taught using the 'Come and See' scheme produced by Liverpool Archdiocese. The children explore their own experiences in the first part of the topic, they then learn about this in relation to scripture and the teachings of the gospel or through the Church community. The final week of the topic is sharing what they have learnt through a celebration.
Through this they are also taught about other faiths including Judaism, Islam and Hindu.
Children are not only taught about their faith in lessons, prayers, liturgy and assemblies but are encouraged to live and share their faith within the school community which in turn permeates all areas of school life.
It is expected that all children will take a full and active part in the religious life of the school. The children will attend Masses, services and Celebrations throughout the year.
As a result, the withdrawal of pupils from formal Religious Instructions or Worship would not isolate them from the Catholic teaching, which the school gives and no specific arrangements for withdrawal are in operation at present.
In Years 4 and 5 the children will make their First Holy Communion alongside their first Reconciliation, this is led by school, supported by family. We work closely with families and the parish of All Saints and St Catherine's to ensure the involvement of all, at these important stages in a child's life.
Implementation
The RE curriculum as St Catherine’s is taught for 10% of the teaching time each week. Our pupils are inspired by exceptional teaching and consistently high expectations across the school through the ‘Come and See’ scheme of work. RE is taught discreetly in our school but is also a key part of our whole school mission.
Children will be highly engaged in RE lessons through the use of a variety of sources such as religious stories, scripture, religious artwork, songs, music, dance and religious signs and symbols. The life and work of key figures in the History of the people of God will be studied and children will develop an understanding of how we can follow in their footsteps in sharing the good news of God’s love.
Children will learn about the key sacraments we participate in as part of our Christian faith. By sharing the scripture and key symbols of these sacraments the children are able to embed their understanding of the choices Christians make. Children will also learn about both the local and universal church and how we can share the love of God in our world while using scripture to deepen our understanding of Key Religious figures and how they shared the good news of God’s love.
Impact
Religious Education at St Catherine’s allows the children grow to know and love God, develop their moral and spiritual nature and deepen their faith. Children will live their faith in an active and positive way making a relationship with God and become religiously literate. Through religious practice, the church’s traditions of prayer and worship will be upheld. Children will show compassion, justice, love and forgiveness in their relationships with others. Children are confident, resilient and actively engaged in the wider society. The school environment will reflect and celebrate our Catholic faith.
Children will be able to define, describe and discuss areas of RE. They will confidently use skills such as retelling, describing, comparing, giving reasons, explaining the meaning of biblical stories and considering the impact of beliefs. Children will be able to reflect and consider important questions about RE.
Through wider reading in RE, children will know about a wide variety of Saints, how we can learn from their example, and historical religious events and figures. 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, such as in rituals and charitable acts.
Overall our children are happy learners within RE. They experience a wide-ranging number of learning challenges in RE and know appropriate responses to them. There are clear outcomes to focus and guide all RE development plans and drive improvement. Children produce good quality work across religion, which they are proud of. Through the use of summative and formative assessment we know the majority of children are working at age related expectations by the end of EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. We can use this information to scaffold and support our children who are working towards their age-related expectations in their Religious Education lessons.