Christ the King Primary School

Religious Education Curriculum Statement

Intent

As a Catholic school, we believe that we are all called to be disciples of Christ and share the light of his love in our homes, school parish and with our global community using the gifts and talents God has given to us. Through our Mission statement we aim to encourage our children to be part of building and bringing about God’s Kingdom through living out the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The aim of our carefully tailored curriculum is for the children to grow in their own spirituality and faith, through their love for God and one another, their learning about and from God and their praise of God and his creation.

Through their lived-out experiences in school, we aim to nurture an understanding that the children are part of a global community united through the values of the Gospel. With the Gospels and ‘Laudato Si’ as our inspiration, the children develop an understanding of their role in caring for our common home and caring for one another. We aim to provide an environment where the children will learn about the mission of Christ through careful study and emersion in scripture, which is rooted in experience. Through our curriculum and the Catholic life of the school, the children learn how Christ showed tolerance, compassion, justice, love and forgiveness to those most in need and are encouraged to think and ultimately act this out in their own lives.

We develop children’s understanding and knowledge of other faiths and cultures, respecting and appreciating alternative viewpoints. We recognise the social, moral, spiritual, and cultural diversity of our communities, and encourage curiosity tolerance and respect, inspiring pupils to understand how life in Britain and the wider world is changing around them.

We aim to develop the children in…

  • Joyfully placing scripture at the heart of their worship and prayer
  • Engaging and responding to the challenge of the modern world in the context of the Gospel
  • Thinking critically about their role as followers of Christ
  • Developing their knowledge and understanding of their faith

 

Implementation

Religious Education is at the centre of everything we do as a Catholic school and permeates through every aspect of the curriculum and school life. We ensure that a minimum of 10% of Curriculum time is allocated for RE teaching across all key stages. The requirements of the RE curriculum are met through the scheme ‘Come and See’ which in turn meets the requirements of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory set out by the Bishop’s Conference of England Wales. All requirements at Christ the King are met at a standard that equals or is better than those of Literacy at all key stages and Foundation stage.

Through the high standard and exceptional teaching of RE, pupils are inspired to become critical thinkers and to reflect deeply upon their own faith journey. They are challenged through the topics taught, to think about how they put the teachings of the church and Jesus into practise in their own daily lives. The children are encouraged to continually think about their own spirituality and teachers plan opportunities for children to explore this through discussion, lesson, prayer and different forms of Collective Worship. A high priority is given to the formation of pupils in their understanding of, involvement in and service to building the Kingdom of God and taking care of our common home.

Each phase uses the RE Age-Related descriptors from the Bishops’ conference to assess the attainment of the children and their progress is tracked on a termly basis throughout a topic by dating evidence of attainment strands. Teachers assess performance across topics and over time. This enables both class teachers and the subject leader to monitor coverage and identify progress made throughout the pupils’ time with us.

The process for delivering the topics in ‘Come and See’ has three stages – Explore, Reveal and Respond which enable the pupils with the development of knowledge, understanding, skills and the fostering of attitudes. The sequence is as follows:

 

Explore (1 week) This is the introduction to the topic where the children’s life experience is explored, the questions it raises are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected on. This session may include:

  • Exploring experiences through music, story, drama, dance or art
  • Investigation and story telling
  • Consideration of the Big Question
  • Discussion
  • Reflection

 

Revelation
Reveal (usually 2 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. The process of this delivery will include:

  • Meeting new knowledge of Religious Education
  • Reflecting on the wonder of the mystery
  • Research, collating information
  • Asking searching questions
  • Discussion
  • Making links between Cristian understanding and the shared life experiences
  • Acknowledging and respecting differences
  • Being open to new perspectives.

 

Response
Respond (1 week) This is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. This may be carried out through:

  • Creating a quiet, prayerful atmosphere for reflection
  • Reviewing work carried out throughout the topic
  • Sharing thoughts and feelings

 

OTHER FAITHS and RELIGIONS
Judaism is usually studied in the Autumn term; however, this can vary due to the needs of the school. The other religion to be studied is either Hinduism, Islam or Sikhism – the religion focus is carefully selected with consideration given to the most relevant and appropriate in light of each class and current local, national or world-wide events.

 

Impact

As a result of our RE provision, children at Christ the King:

  • Are well prepared for the next stage of their education as confident and enthusiastic learners.
  • Produce good quality work which they are proud of.
  • Achieve consistently well in all areas of Religious Education and make exceptional progress.
  • Are happy, well-rounded individuals who have developed a deep-rooted relationship with God and understanding of their Catholic faith.
  • Are ambassadors for Christ who are ready to go out into the world and proclaim the values of the Gospel confidently, building God’s Kingdom through using the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
  • Understand that they are part of the family of God and know how they can play their part in this Global family united by Christ.

Religious Education is at the core of all teaching at Christ the King and we aim for children to be a light to others; at school, home, within the parish, the community, and with our global neighbours.

To help children develop knowledge of their faith, we follow the ‘Come and See’ Catholic Primary Religious Education Programme to support our teaching. This is a special programme which allows the children to learn about the Catholic faith and to know Jesus more. Throughout the year, we also study and learn about other faiths.

This is an extensive programme which covers a range of challenging themes from EYFS up to Year 6. Each theme is divided up into the following sections:

  • Explore
  • Reveal
  • Respond
  • At the end of each theme, the children reflect on what they have learnt through class liturgies.

 

The right of withdrawal from Religious Education and/or Collective Worship

Parents of pupils  are permitted, by law, to request that their child is withdrawn from receiving all or part of religious education and/or collective worship given at the school and any such request shall stand until such time that a parent’s request is withdrawn.

What happens to the pupil if he/she is withdrawn from Religious Education and/or Collective Worship?

If pupils are withdrawn from religious education and/or collective worship, schools have a duty to supervise them, though not to provide additional teaching or to incur extra costs.

Depending on the resources available to the school, the withdrawn pupil may be moved to another venue within the school, for example, the library, or perhaps in a very small school with limited resources, the pupil may remain in the RE classroom but will not participate in the RE lesson.  If the pupil is moved to another area within the school, they must be supervised.

As with most things, we would always advise parents to discuss this with the school in advance of any request being made  so that all of the implications can be discussed in detail

It is important to bear in mind that the parental right to withdraw a child from RE was intended by Parliament to be a ‘conscience clause’ and not to be used as a general opt-out clause.