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Religious Education

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Our Religious Education Intent

 

At SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, we offer our children an exciting and faith filled RE curriculum that is central to every aspect of school life. Our aim is to ensure all children gain a deeper understanding of their beliefs within the Roman Catholic faith and those of other faiths. We want to see the children form happy and rich memories in Religious Education formed through an engaging and comprehensive curriculum which enables them to develop a living and personal faith in Jesus Christ and allowing them to know and love God and understand the world around them. As a Catholic school, the Religious Education curriculum is central to the whole school curriculum and with our Gospel values, underpins all teaching. At SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, we follow ‘Come and See’ as a curriculum scheme which is recommended by the Archdiocese of Southwark.  

 

What is the purpose of Religious Education in Catholic schools?

Catholic schools, with RE at their core, exist in order to

"help parents, priests and teachers to hand on the Deposit of Faith in its fullness to a new generation of young people so that they may come to understand the richness of the Catholic faith, and thereby be drawn into a deeper communion with Christ in his Church."

With this as their primary aim, Catholic schools serve diverse populations of pupils and within this context the Religious Education Curriculum Directory (RECD) makes the aims of Religious Education explicit:

  • To present engagingly a comprehensive content which is the basis of knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith

  • 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 so that pupils can make a critique of the underlying trends in contemporary culture and society

  • To raise pupils' awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities in order to respect and understand them

  • To develop the critical faculties of pupils so that they can relate their Catholic faith to daily life

  • 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

  • To bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture

SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School is at the centre of a culturally rich diverse community in Mitcham. We believe our children possess unique talents, skills and qualities. As such, they have the right to succeed, the right to recognise their own greatness and the right to develop who they are in a respectful and nurturing environment. Children will be prepared to live life in a multi faith society by fostering respect for and understanding other cultures and world faiths. They will develop an understanding and appreciation of the world and be able to reflects on their own beliefs, values and experiences. 

Through high quality teaching, we aim to engage children’s imagination and intellect, inspiring enthusiasm and interest in Religious Education. Children will develop the appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding as well as develop their values and ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious and moral issues. 

 

Our Approach to Religious Education at SS Peter and Paul

At SS Peter and Paul, Religious Education is at the heart of everything we do. As a Catholic school, we seek to develop and foster each child’s relationship with God, as well as with other people and also enable children to develop the social and moral values our Church aims to promote. We feel it is important that children know how to work with others, show forgiveness and acceptance towards others and develop respectful attitudes in their daily lives, knowing that they are children of God. We aim to promote these actions through class-based teaching, as well as through our spiritual assemblies, pupil liturgies, liturgical celebrations and regular masses. We work very closely with our local parishes to understand that liturgies, masses and sacraments are central to our faith lives.

At SS Peter and Pauls Primary School we currently follow the national scheme ‘Come and See’ programme as the basis of our teaching which is approved by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales. ‘Come and See’ is an engaging programme of study which is an invitation to exploration and the promise of life for everyone.  

The scheme aims to develop not only knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, but also spirituality. It covers many aspects  including what it means to be part of a Christian family, how Jesus is the role model on which we base our lives and our actions, the Seven Sacraments and important dates and celebrations in the liturgical year, for example Advent, Lent and Pentecost. Through the use of the scheme and the teaching at school, children are provided with many opportunities to show their creativity and express their thoughts, ideas and opinions. Children are given the opportunity to search, explore, discover and respond, allowing them to reflect on what it is to be human and living in our world.

Questions are raised that provide material for children to reflect upon their own experiences: looking at meaning and purpose, which will enable children to think critically about themselves.

Come and See explores the beliefs, values and the way of life of the Catholic traditions as well as of other faith traditions. This allows time to develop good attitudes and dispositions so that our children are instilled with a love of learning and a desire to go on learning.

The scheme is developed through three themes:

  • The Church

  • The Sacrament

  • Christian Living

Autumn Term:

The three autumn term these are developed in the light of the an understanding of Creation: 

Family, Belonging and Loving.

Spring Term:

The three spring themes are developed in the light of understanding of Incarnation:

Community, Relating and Giving

Summer term:

The three summer themes are developed in the light of an understanding of Redemption and the work of the Holy Spirit: Serving, Inter-Relating and World

World Faiths

We celebrate other faiths and believe that children must have the opportunity to learn about and understand these faiths. All children study Judaism over the course of one week in the Autumn term, with the teachings and customs of Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism being taught on a three-yearly rotational basis, ensuring that the children learn about major world faiths during their time at primary school. Where appropriate, children also learn about other faiths and cultures within the variety of topics that are studied outside of the Religious Education curriculum.

Each term, your child's curriculum booklet will detail the RE Units of work being covered in class to support you at home when your child is asking searching questions and so that you can complement the academic and spiritual journey your child is engaging with at home.

Below is an outline of the topics covered throughout the year available for download.

RE curriculum Overview- Come and see and Religious Education Policy.