“In a world where you can be anything, be kind!” (Jennifer Dukes Lee)

Policy Overarching Objective

St Winefride’s is a Catholic Primary School where our mission statement underpins every aspect of school life.

We celebrate God’s love for everyone. We enjoy learning and growing together in our caring and welcoming family.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me.”

Matthew 19:14

The primary purpose of Catholic Religious Education is to come to know and understand God’s revelation which is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. In the person of Christ, the deepest meaning of what it is to be human - that we are created by God and through the Holy Spirit united with Christ in his Incarnation - is discovered. This revelation is known through the scriptures and the tradition of the Church as taught by the Magisterium. Religious Education helps the pupil to know and experience the meaning of this revelation in his or her own life and the life of the community which is the Church.

• Religious Education is a core subject in the Catholic school.

• For some in the classroom, Religious Education may well be received as catechesis, deepening and enhancing their personal faith; for some it will be evangelisation, the first time they will have been presented, personally, with the truths of living faith. Nevertheless, its primary purpose is the step by step study of the mystery of Christ, the teaching of the Church and its application in daily life. The criteria by which it is to be judged are educational.

• Religious Education is planned, taught, assessed and monitored with the same rigour as other core curriculum subjects.

• The outcome of Religious Education is religiously literate and engaged young people who have the knowledge, understanding and skills - appropriate to their age and capacity - to reflect spiritually, and think ethically and theologically, and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life. (RECD 2012)

Implementation

The Religious Education Programme in our school is ‘Come and See’.

10% of the teaching timetable is provided for Religious Education. This means, 2 hours 15 minutes at Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, and 2 hours 30 minutes at Key Stage 2. This is clearly indicated on the class timetable. This time does not include collective worship (other than the Rejoice section), hymn practice, assemblies etc. This time allocation is distributed appropriately across the timetable to ensure quality time is given for effective teaching and learning throughout the week. Allocation of teaching time to other faiths is 5 hours (2 weeks RE time). The school leadership and management take responsibility for this.

Within each lesson there is a balance between input, discussion and activity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the human search for meaning, God’s initiative in Revelation who comes to meet us and our response of faith. This pattern guides the structure of the programme and informs the process of each topic, opened up through; Explore, Reveal and Respond.

Explore

The teacher helps the children to begin to look at and focus on the experience within their own lives – concerning themselves, their relationships and their world. In this way the children are led to a deeper understanding, clearer vision and the discovery of significance and value of the experiential events of everyday life.

This will involve:

Exploring experiences through story, music, drama, dance, art, etc.

Investigation

Story telling

Consideration of the big questions

Discussion

Becoming aware of the questions raised

Reflecting on the significance of these experiences.

EXPLORE will take one week of Religious Education time to complete.

Reveal

Reveal is the heart of the process. The teacher and the children together discover the Christian understanding of the mystery of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They explore the mystery of human life as revealed in the person, life and gospel of Jesus Christ. It will involve learning about Scripture, the teaching of the Church, prayers, rites, psalms, hymns and other expressions of Christian faith and the lives of outstanding Christians.

The process of delivery will involve:

meeting new knowledge of religious education;

developing an understanding of this new knowledge;

reflecting on the wonder of the mystery;

gathering information and collecting facts connected with this knowledge;

researching, collating and classifying;

becoming aware of the questions raised;

working with problems and grappling with puzzling experiences;

exploring experiences through story, music, drama, dance, art;

exploring what leads to understanding and meaning;

asking questions and discussing;

exploring in creative and practical ways through drama, writing, poetry, song, dance, music, ICT and service of others;

making links between Christian understanding and the shared life experience;

valuing life experience;

acknowledging and respecting difference(s);

being open to new perspectives.

REVEAL will take two weeks of Religious Education time to complete.

Respond

‘Remember’ is the first part of this section. The children will respond by remembering and celebrating all that they have learnt. This new understanding will enable them to make a personal response in their daily lives. This part begins by reflecting on what the children wonder about. This is followed by providing the opportunity for the children to remember what they have understood and learnt.

This may be done through:

creating a quiet, prayerful atmosphere for reflection;

looking at and thinking about the work done;

drawing attention to different aspects of this work;

sharing thoughts and feelings

As part of ‘Remember’ pupils and teachers carry out a topic evaluation which demonstrates all that they have learnt and understood through the topic taught. Pupils and teachers respond to the success criteria for the topic, as a list of ‘I can statements….’ for each level.

‘Rejoice’ is the second part of the section. There will be the opportunity to plan and take part in a celebration. It will be essential to involve the children in the choice of material to be used in the celebration.

‘Renew.’ The teacher helps each child to make an individual response, to hold onto and make their own, what they have understood of the topic. In this part the children will think about how they can apply their learning to their lives. Older children can be offered the opportunity to write or draw in their personal notebooks.

The teacher will undertake an evaluation which will inform future teaching and learning and include assessment for learning.

RESPOND will take one week of Religious Education time to complete.

Other faiths and additional lessons

Each year the children study Judaism and Hinduism. This is important as it helps them to appreciate the other faiths of people amongst whom we live.

From time to time additional RE lessons are provided for children outside of the Come and See scheme that may focus on a range of topics such as the lives of saints, values and virtues, catholic traditions. The lessons may be provided by teachers in the school or catechists from outside the school.

Assemblies

Assemblies are organised as follows (Covid restrictions permitting):

Weekly Phase 1 (EYFS, Year 1&2) assembly/hymn practice led by class teachers, Head Teacher or Assistant Head Teacher.

Weekly Phase 2 (Year 3, 4) assembly/hymn practice led by class teachers, Head Teacher or Assistant Head Teacher.

Weekly Phase 3 (Year 5, 6) assembly/hymn practice led by class teachers, Head Teacher or Assistant Head Teacher

Friday: Whole school achievement assembly, including class presentation, led by each class once per term on a rota basis, and whole school singing.

Christmas, Easter and end of school year: Concerts and presentations are staged in St Stephen’s Church for the school, parent/carers and Parish community.

Holy Days

On Holy Days whole school masses are celebrated in St Stephen’s Church.

Parent/carers and parishioners are encouraged to attend all celebrations.

Collective Worship

All Collective Worship takes place following the guidelines included in our Collective Worship Policy, which itself follows closely the guidance issued by the Diocese of Brentwood (Groden, 2016) and the Department for Education ((DFES), 1988) (Holland, 1994).

Come and See

The Come and See programme is used to teach religious education to all children in the school, from Reception to Year 6.

Inclusion

Teaching religious education to children with special needs

In our school we teach RE to all children, whatever their ability. The teaching of RE is a vital part of our school curriculum policy and ethos. When teaching RE we ensure that we provide learning opportunities matched to the needs of children with learning difficulties. We take into account the targets set for individual children in their Individual Education Plans (IEPs).

Equal opportunities

We aim to give equal access to meet the needs of all children. Classroom activities are planned to include those children who may have Special Educational Needs. Children who speak English as an additional language are given opportunities to talk about their faith and to develop their vocabulary.

British Values

The British values of Mutual respect & tolerance of all faiths and beliefs and for those of none, Individual Liberty, the Rule of Law, and Democracy. Freedom, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, belief in personal and social responsibility and respect for British institutions, are displayed in every classroom and taught indiscreetly through the RE curriculum.

Impact

At the end of each topic, pupils carry out a topic evaluation and self-assessment. This work is then ascribed a curriculum level. At times other written work and observations are also used to prescribe a level of attainment. The ‘Levels of Attainment in Religious Education in Catholic Schools and Colleges’ from the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales is used to prescribe the level.

Pupils’ levels are recorded for each topic and monitored. Through the use of Target Tracker, pupils’ progress is analysed termly for all children and vulnerable groups are monitored.

Reporting to parents is undertaken on a termly basis through parent consultation evenings, termly SMSC reports and an annual written report.

Staff INSET is provided to ensure continuity and progression.

Cultural Capital links to Religious Education

Cafod Fundraising Lent: each class selects an activity to raise funds for Cafod. Children learn about a specific cause they are raising funds for and gain an understanding of different children’s lives around the world.

Citizenship week: Children learn about an aspect of Citizenship also linked to spiritual values. Phase 1 attend a theatre performance, Phase 2 and 3 undertake a variety of visits Houses of Parliament, GLA, Bank of England etc.).

Pupil Team: all pupils are eligible to be selected for the RE Pupil Team to promote a love of RE across the school and assist in monitoring tasks.