Religious Education

Our principal aim is that children leave St. Filumena’s Catholic Primary School with a wide range of happy and rich memories in RE formed through interesting and exciting experiences driven through an engaging and comprehensive curriculum which is the basis of knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, enabling them to develop a living and personal faith in Jesus Christ and allowing them to know and love God.

• RE is the foundation of our entire education process and permeates all areas of the curriculum and school life. Explicit cross-curricular links will be made in all other subject areas as appropriate.

• RE is a core subject of the curriculum and all children will study RE for 2hrs 30 mins per week in Key Stage 1 and 2 hrs 45 mins per week in Key Stage 2.
• Children will meet the Diocesan Standards for Primary Religious Education, which will be taught by highly qualified staff who will engage children’s intellect, heart and imagination, inspiring enthusiasm and interest in RE.
• Children will develop an awareness of God’s presence in their lives and the lives of others, developing the spiritual life of each child through prayer and reflection.
• Children will develop a well-formed conscience allowing them to make sound moral judgements in the light of a personal commitment to God.
• RE will play a central role in the school’s work on spiritual, moral, vocational, social and cultural education.
• Children will be prepared for life in a multi-faith society by fostering respect for and understanding of rich cultural diversity.
• A programme of family life education, which conforms to the teaching of the Catholic Church and follows Diocesan guidelines, will be provided.
• Cultural Capital – children will be exposed to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life with opportunities for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich their knowledge by, for example, visiting different places of worship: our local parish church, St Chad’s Cathedral, Alton Castle,  Open Faith Centre (Derby) etc.
• Children will develop a deep understanding of the RE unit they are studying. They will increasingly use their prior knowledge to develop into religiously literate young people.
• In RE, children will develop the skills to make links and connections, engage and respond, analyse and evaluate using sources of evidence.
• Skills in other subjects will be applied in RE and children will be encouraged to investigate the faith with enthusiasm.
• Children will develop a real understanding and appreciation of the world learning from a range of sources and experiences.

Intent – What we are trying to achieve?

At St Filumena’s Catholic Primary School we:-

• Enable each child to develop a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith, promote respect for religious and moral values and tolerance of other races and religions
• Foster the growth of each child’s potential through the development of respect for self and others
• Promote the individual talents and abilities of pupils to ensure that each child fulfils his or her full potential.
• Promote an understanding and care of the environment in which each child finds him or herself.
• Promote a close and co-operative relationship between home, parish and school.

Implementation – How do we translate our vision into practice?

• The Subject Leader for RE is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and closely monitors the delivery of RE in order to ensure that teaching and learning in RE is outstanding. A program of continuous Professional Development is provided from the SLT, lay chaplain, MAC and diocese. Where necessary, staff will receive coaching and training in RE.
• Carefully designed schemes of learning in RE ensure consistency and progress of all learners. We follow the agreed syllabus from the Birmingham Archdiocese ‘Learning and Growing as the People of God’.
• Each year group will study a number of units over the year. The units are developmental, building on previous knowledge and experience and taking into account of the children’s age and understanding.
• The topics covered by each year group are as detailed on the curriculum overview.

Assessment follows the 3 year cycle as outlined by the Diocese
• The RE curriculum will include guest speakers who are specialists in their area and guest speakers from Catholic charities will also visit schools such as Sactuary, CAFOD and Father Hudson’s in order to encourage participation in fundraising events.
• High quality teaching responds to the needs of children. Spaced learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessment with teachers actively marking work in lessons in order to identify misconceptions early.
• Children are 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 for example, lives of the saints.
• Approaches will include whole class teaching, group activities and individual work. Children will have opportunities to work individually as well as cooperatively and collaboratively, developing their own knowledge and expertise as well as sharing experiences with others.
• High quality input from experts and educational resources complement the delivery of learning admirably. The call to vocation will be developed in all year groups

Impact – What is the impact of our curriculum on the students?

• Children experience a variety of learning challenges in RE.
• Through RE, children deepen their appreciation of their faith and fulfil their God-given talents
• Visits within RE have enriched the lives of the children and they are able to discuss how the experience impacted their knowledge and understanding.
• Children of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well in RE.
• There is a proven track record of success in assessments that reflects the impact of deep learning.
• Fundamental British Values are evident in RE and children understand how RE can celebrate difference.
• Children will understand the Catholic virtues and Catholic Social Teaching which will be focused on each half term and how these relate to their personal life and to British Values
• The children will grow to know and love God, develop their moral, spiritual, vocational and cultural nature and deepen their faith.
• Children will live their faith in an active and positive way, always aware of the presence and love of Christ guiding them.
• Children will develop their relationship with God and become religiously literate.
• Through religious practice, the church’s traditions of prayer (traditional and contemporary) and worship will be upheld.
• Faith plays a central role in the lives of the children and the decisions they make.
• Children are confident, resilient and actively engaged in the local, national and international church and wider society.
• 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.