Religious Education at St. Monica's Catholic Primary School

'Catholic schools, with RE at their core, exist in order to help parents, priests and teachers to hand on the Deposit of Faith in its fullness to a new generation of young people so that they may come to understand the richness of the Catholic faith, and thereby be drawn into a deeper communion with Christ in his Church.' 

Religious Education Curriculum Directory pvii 

Intent

As a dedicated Catholic school, we know the importance of the relationship between Parish, Family and School in teaching our children. Religious Education is at the heart of all that we do. It is our core and we continually strive to provide high quality teaching and purposeful learning that engage and immerse our children in the teachings of the Bible and the Catholic faith through their Religious Education lessons. Our core values are: to embrace the love and teachings of God and Jesus Christ in all that we do each day, to be guided by gospel values, to strive to always be honest and to treat each other with respect and friendship with a caring heart.  All of these are integral to the children’s everyday experience and help them to live our mission statement:

‘Success for all within a Christ-Centred Community’

As a Catholic school we are driven by the Gospel values. These allow the children to deepen their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding and also to develop a greater awareness of the spirituality of others, creating tolerance and harmony, vital to their understanding of the world around them. We are committed to the Catholic faith and valuing each and everyone as unique, made in the likeness of God. 

Religious Education is carefully planned to ensure progression throughout the school. Lessons and experiences are planned to create opportunities not only for learning about the Catholic faith, but to inspire awe, wonder, reverence and spirituality in a creative way. We aim to teach children about and explore Catholic and Christian traditions, alongside traditions from other faith backgrounds so they can develop an understanding and respect for all people and the world around us.

Implementation

At St. Monica's Catholic Primary School, we follow the Come and See programme of study. This is delivered to our children from when they enter our Nursery until they leave us in Year 6. 10% of our school curriculum timetable is dedicated to the teaching of Religious Education. This is in line with the RECD requirements. Religious Education is taught individually but plays a central role in all areas of school life.

At St. Monica's Catholic Primary school we follow the Religious Education programme recommended by the Archdiocese of Liverpool. This is the ‘Come and See’ programme. This programme allows us to engage, inspire and challenge our children’s thinking. It was developed to respond to the needs of children today in their faith journey, to enable them to grow in their religious literacy and understanding in a way that is coherent with current educational principles. It is designed to support teachers in their delivery of Religious Education. It integrates the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Levels Of Attainment and the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory. At the heart of the programme is the mystery of God’s self-revelation of love through Jesus Christ. Come and See gives pupils the opportunity to explore the mystery of faith through Scripture and Tradition. Throughout a pupil’s school journey, they will each have the opportunity to explore different faiths and religions as part of this curriculum.

Each topic in the Come and See programme is taught across 4 weeks:

Explore (ONE week)

The topic is introduced in this first week and the children’s life experience is explored, the question(s) it raises are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected upon.

Reveal (TWO 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.

Respond (ONE week)

In this week, the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. This reflective work is collated in the class ‘learning journals’ which travel up the school with each class.

Teachers plan a wide variety of lessons using resources including religious stories, scripture, religious artwork, songs, music, dance and religious signs and symbols. Religious Education is taught through many different approaches including whole class teaching, group activities and individual work. Children are given opportunities to work individually as well as cooperatively and collaboratively, developing their own knowledge and expertise as well as sharing experiences with others.

Impact

The impact of our Religious Education curriculum here at St. Monica's is measured in a variety of different ways. Firstly through our robust, whole school monitoring system. The impact of the curriculum on the progress and attainment of our children in RE is measured through ongoing teacher assessment during lessons using formative notebooks, lesson observations and regular book scrutinies.

In addition to these, assessment in RE shows the impact of our RE curriculum. Ongoing assessment of each topic against the End of Year Standards, in addition to formal assessment tasks, are used to identify areas of strength, areas for focus or support and to inform planning. Assessment is moderated internally and also externally at termly, local RE cluster meetings.

Importantly, the impact of the RE curriculum is also shown through our children and their deepening appreciation of their faith and God-given talents. Our children are articulate and able to talk openly about their faith and the role they play in the community and wider Catholic Church. Children at St. Monica’s live out their faith in an active and positive way, they follow in the footsteps of Jesus and ensure that they are making positive contributions in the world.

'God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.'

Ephesians 2:10

Religious Education Assessment

Religious Education is at the centre of all we do here at our school It is, therefore, essential for use to ensure consistent high standards in this subject across the school. To achieve this, we have a clear and cohesive assessment system that is in line with other core subjects, such as Literacy, Reading and Maths. Our children are assessed through a variety of different ways including observations during lessons, questioning and through the work that the children produce in lessons. Our children are also formally assessed in Religious Education by assessment tasks provided by the Archdiocese of Liverpool. This is completed each term and the progress that the children make is recorded using their End of Year Standards.

Latest Section 48 Religious Education Inspection Report

Please click on the link below to read our latest report from the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Letters and Information for Parents/Carers

Take a look at the Religious Education Newsletter below. This aims to keep you informed of the themes being studied by each year group and provides ways in which you can support your child’s learning at home.