Religious Education

           

 

 

St Mary’s Catholic Infant and Junior Academies work together to create a caring, friendly and faith-centred community, where we seek to realise the full potential of all our family through the living love of Christ. All our work with children and their families, staff, governors, parishioners and the wider community is influenced by our core values:

Compassion, Respect and Resilience.

At both the Infant and Junior Academies, our Religious Education curriculum is designed to ensure the Church's universal education mission, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is central. Through teaching about and from scripture, we allow our children to explore and understand the nature of Catholic beliefs and the beliefs of other religions, recognising how these beliefs can help us with our choices and the way faith can support is in the highs and lows of life. 

Intent

The purpose of our Arches Curriculum is to ensure that our children are successful in life and learning. The ‘Nine Arches’ Sankey Viaduct in Newton-le-Willows has been the inspiration for our curriculum.  The viaduct was built by George Stephenson between 1828 and 1830 and the bridge, built to let trains cross above the Sankey Canal, has international significance as the world’s earliest major railway viaduct still in use.

'The outome of excellent religious education is religiously literate and engaged younk 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 commitmentt in everyday life.' (Religious Education Curriculum Directory for Catholic Schools - 2023)

The primary purpose of Religious Education in Cathoic schools is to come to know and understand God's revelation, which is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Our RE curriculum, taught through the Religious Education Directories, set in place by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, is designed to ensure all children come to know God, through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, learning both about and from religion, using the Catholic faith and beliefs as a vehicle for a life lived well. 

From this, we teach to the Arches Principles - 

Ambitious - Resilience - Christ at the Heart - Health and Wellbeing - Excellence - Success

 

Ambitious

RE at St Mary's provides children with the opportunity to be ambitious in their mission, following God's path. The curriculum is designed to ensure all children have a deep and significant experience of faith, making good choices and spreading the Good News. 

 

Resilience

The word of God is taught across school, opening the children up to messages of support, love and belief, showing children that having resilience is easier when you accept Go'd help and that anything can be acheived in His love, with a focus on the idea that 

'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'

 

Christ at the heart

Placing Christ at the heart of all we do allows children the opportunity to know the word of God and understand the Gospel Values, using these in their decision making, finding their mission and recognising that the messages of Jesus are an important part of their lives, with Catholic traditions and beliefs. 

 

Health and Wellbeing

At St Mary's we put the mental and physical health and wellbing of our children as a high priority in all we do. Our RE curriculums open up the children to the knowledge and understanding that we were each made in God's image, made to be unique and made with love. Through His love and care, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit want each of us to live life to the fullest and be strong of mind and spirit.

 

Excellence

The expectations for children in their RE work are high. We expect children to try their best in all they do, and take pride in their work. RE is the core of the core subjects at St Mary's, and this importance placed on the subject is mirrored in the excellence we see in children's work and in the high standards shown by both staff and children. 

 

Successful

Success in RE is a difficult thing to measure, but it is reflected in the choices our children make, the understanding of scripture they show and the way the Gospel values are lived out across out school, allowing children to lead successful lives. 

	Deep and meaningful understanding of the scripture Pupils develop all aspects of knowledge: substantive and disciplinary Review and build on important understanding over time
	Foster debate, dialogue and the development of respect and understanding Finding and using scripture to help us when life in difficult Building confidence in ourselves, in each other and in God
	As a Catholic school, our Gospel values and the teachings of Jesus Christ are at the centre of all our learning.   With Christ's love at the centre of all that we do, students learn core knowledge, which can be applied to all areas of life.
	The knowledge and security that God made us in His image An understanding that the traditions and scriptures of the Catholic faith will support us in all parts of our lives.
	Through the ‘excellence’ curriculum driver, we aim to achieve the highest possible standards in behaviour, progress and achievement in Religious Education.
	Through the ‘success’ curriculum driver, we aim to help to develop children who are confident in all aspects of the Religious Education curriculum to enable them to become successful individuals.

 

 

Implementation

Our RE curriculum is based on two documents. The Religious Education Curriculum Directory (2012) provides guidance for the RE classroom curriculum in Catholic Schools and is the basis for Come and See, taught in Years 4, 5 and 6 at St Mary's. 

At St Mary's, we have introduced the new Religious Education Directory and its programme 'To know You More Clearly' to Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 and will continue to move over to the new Directory, with gudiance, training and support from Liverpool Archdiocese Education Department. 

Below you will find the structure for both curriculums. 

To Know You More Clearly - currnently taught in EYFS, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3

Programme Overview- Branches and Lenses

There are six branches in ‘To know You More Clearly’ – one per half term. The branches are:

1.  Creation and Covenant

2.  Prophecy and Promise

3.  From Galilee to Jerusalem

4.  From Desert to Garden

5.  To the Ends of the Earth

6.  Dialogue and Encounter

Each branch follows:

·  Hear

·  Believe

·  Celebrate

·  Live

At the end of each branch and lenses the children will:

·  Understand

·  Discern

·  Respond

Come and See

In Years 4, 5 and 6, we presently follow the Come and See programme of Religious Education, as recommended by the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Come and See is an invitation to exploration and promise of life for everyone. It offers the opportunity to search, to explore, to discover, and to respond; this is part of what it is to be human. The programme aims to raise questions and provide materials for children to reflect on their own experience. For all children, Come and See raises questions of meaning and purpose and enables children to think critically, providing materials for reflecting on their own experience.

The programme helps children to explore the beliefs and values and the way of life of the Catholic traditions, and of other faith traditions, developing good attitudes and dispositions so that children are instilled with a 'love of learning' and a desire to go on learning through Christ. 

The patter that guides the process for delivering each four week topic in Come and See has three stages - Explore, Reveal and Respond. This enables pupils to develop knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes. 

Search ~ Explore: This is the introduction to the topic, where the children's life experiences are explored. 

Revelation ~ Reveal: 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. 

Response ~ Respond: This is where the learning in assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. 

Children are offered a sense of self-worth through experience of belonging to the caring community of St Mary's.

For more information about our RE curriculum, please feel free to contact Mrs Grange at the Infant school, Miss Mowatt or Miss McCormack at the Junior school.