Religious Education
Religious Education at All Saints’
"To Know You More Clearly."
"Education is not about knowing things or taking lessons but about being able to use three lingos: those of the head, the heart, and the hands... learning so that you can think about what you feel and do, can feel what you think and do, and can do what you feel and think. Unity within a person."
– Pope Francis
Curriculum Intent
Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it the way we do?
At All Saints', Religious Education (RE) is the heart of all we do as a Catholic school and permeates through every aspect of the curriculum and school life. We aim to provide the very best Catholic education for our pupils. All Saints’ is a learning community underpinned by a Catholic ethos based upon Gospel values and Catholic Social Teaching. We aim to celebrate the uniqueness of every child, enabling each to reach his or her potential spiritually, morally, academically and socially. Religious Education is the core of the core curriculum.
We aspire to achieve this aim through the everyday routine and prayer life of the school, as well as Religious Education and to achieve high standards and encourage pupils to make the most of the opportunities we offer them.
In the daily living out of our Catholic faith, we aim to ensure that RE and spiritual development is threaded through every aspect of the curriculum, so that it is explicit and implicit within the taught curriculum. Rooted in prayer and lived out in the daily life of the school, the children are supported, through the curriculum, to grow in faith and deepen their relationships with God and each other.
The Aims of Religious Education
· At All Saints’, we understand Religious Education to be the systematic study of the mystery of God, of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Church, the central beliefs that Catholics hold, the basis for them and the relationship between faith and life;
· to enable pupils continually to deepen their religious and theological understanding and be able to communicate this effectively;
· to present an authentic vision of the Church’s moral and social teaching to provide pupils with a sure guide for living and the tools to critically engage with contemporary culture and society;
· to give pupils an understanding of the religions and worldviews present in the world today and the skills to engage in respectful and fruitful dialogue with those whose worldviews differ from their own;
· to develop the critical faculties of pupils so to bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture;
· to stimulate pupils’ imagination and provoke a desire for personal meaning as revealed in the truth of the Catholic faith;
· to enable pupils to relate the knowledge gained through religious education to their understanding of other subjects in the curriculum
Implementation: Planning, Teaching and Learning
What do we teach? What does this look like?
Our curriculum is shaped by our school mission and values.
We ensure that a minimum of 10% of curriculum time is allocated for RE teaching across all key stages. We are currently in a transitional period where we are moving towards a new scheme for the teaching of RE called 'The Vine and Branches'. We have been directed to follow this scheme by the diocese.
Planning is detailed and there is a sharp focus on knowing and understanding religious vocabulary. Teaching ensures that there are regular planned opportunities to re-visit, review and consolidate prior learning. In classrooms you will see RE working walls displaying key vocabulary and current learning. There is a consistent approach to re-visiting learning from previous units throughout the school.
This academic year, children in EYFS Year 1,2,3 and 4 will be taught using 'The Vine and Branches' and children in Year 5 and Year 6 have been introduced to the 'ways of knowing' from the new RE Directory, but continue to follow 'The Way, the Truth and The Life' scheme as advised by the diocese.
The ways of knowing describe the skills that pupils develop as they progress through the religious education curriculum. We refer now to ways of knowing rather than standards or levels, since progress in religious education is not only something that concerns performance and summative assessment. They are called ways of knowing since they describe the holistic ways human beings experience education: as a growth in understanding, as a creative and critical assimilation, and as a recognition of the application of learning to one’s own life. The three ways of knowing are ‘understand’, ‘discern’, and ‘respond’.
Scripture is the foundation of each Branch and will develop knowledge, understanding, skills, compassion and awe and wonder across the curriculum.
'The Vine and Branches' meets the requirements of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory set out by the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales. The schemes provide the basis for teaching the doctrines of the Catholic Church. We ensure that this programme of study is enriched with a variety of activities that include drama, history, geography and art
Pupil's explore the religious dimensions of questions about life, dignity and purpose within the Catholic tradition. Links are made with the pupils’ own experiences and with the other faith traditions.
We proudly proclaim our faith and invite all to join us on our journey, but we welcome children and families of other faiths to our community, and we learn about other faiths and cultures.
Throughout the year, we ensure that children learn about other faiths, religious celebrations and events. We enjoy inviting visitors into school so that children can learn to respect and understand other faiths and cultures.
Impact
Through their RE learning, the children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. The children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to others.
Through regular moderation and monitoring of lessons and books, we can be sure that progress is made across all year groups. Evidence in RE is not just collated through books. Children's knowledge and understanding is demonstrated through art, drama and thoughts and actions.
RE offers our children the means by which to understand how people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way.
We celebrate learning about our Faith...
