Intent
At St Peter’s, the R.E curriculum is a core subject which enriches every part of school life. The primary purpose of Religious Education is to come to know and understand God’s revelation fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Religious Education may well be received as catechesis, deepening and enhancing personal faith, or evangelisation. It may be the first time the children have been personally presented, with the truths of living faith. The primary purpose is the step by step study of the mystery of Christ, the teaching of the Church and its application in daily life. Our children will develop and build on their knowledge each year as they progress through St Peter’s Catholic Primary School.
Implementation
At St Peter’s, we follow ‘The Way, The Truth and The Life,’ scheme of work, which covers important dates in the Church calendar, planned topics that celebrate aspects of our faith as well as different religions. Children develop an awareness of charitable people and organisations.
Children build on their religious knowledge each year during their faith journey at St Peter’s. A range of teaching and learning strategies are deployed. For instance, Teachers encourage children to take part in active discussions to aid their development as confident, independent learners. Creativity is encouraged via artwork, appreciation or drama and role-playing new stories from the Bible. Through cross curricular links, children develop knowledge, applying known skills to their learning in R.E, celebrating their successes.
10% of curriculum time is given to the teaching of Religious Education. A range of collective worship takes place including assemblies; daily opportunities for prayer and reflection, for instance class collective worship, morning, lunch and evening prayers.
We also celebrate ‘One World Week’ annually at St Peter’s where children have the opportunity to gain an in-depth knowledge of another faith, beginning to recognise special signs and symbols to people of other faiths and cultures.
Impact
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, think ethically and theologically, and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life. The children recognise the importance of their faith in a range of contexts. Our children leave St Peter’s with a good moral compass, demonstrating a knowledge and understanding of Catholic values by showing love and respect for all around us.
