Religious Education Curriculum
At St Catherine's our mission is to be a community which offers the best possible education based on Christian values. Every child is valued, cared for and encouraged to reach his/her potential in an atmosphere of warmth, care and hope.
Our Religious education it is ‘the core of the core curriculum’. It is at the centre of everything we do as a Catholic school. We ensure that a minimum of 10% of Curriculum time is allocated for RE teaching across all key stages. We teach RE through the scheme ‘Come and See’.
Through the high standard of teaching 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 explore this through discussion, lesson, prayer and weekly Celebration of the Word.
Come and See Scheme Structure
Each four-weekly topic is broken into 3 aspects
EXPLORE (1 WEEK)
- Introduces the topic
- The children’s life experience is explored
- The questions raised are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected upon
- Focus on Reflection on Meaning
REVEAL (2 WEEKS)
- Heart of the programme
- Knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith revealed through Scripture Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian living
- Focus on Knowledge and Understanding & Reflection on Meaning
RESPOND (1 WEEK)
- Learning is remembered, celebrated and responded to in daily life
- Prayer
- Prayer and celebration are integral to Come and See
- Opportunities for reflection are present within Explore, Reveal and Respond
- Traditional prayers are introduced in the different Key Stages
Prayer
Prayer and worship are central to the daily life of St Catherine’s primary school. We aim to provide opportunities for children's spiritual growth and development through participation in a variety of forms of worship and through experiencing all forms of prayer: formal, informal, spontaneous, private, shared, petitionary and meditative.
As a school we gather weekly to celebrate the Word. They listen to the Scripture passage linked to the Gospel from the previous Sunday.
In our Key Stage assemblies, we gather weekly to listen and act upon a weekly statement to live by. They listen to the Scripture passage linked to the statement. Children then follow the statement to live by in school. Each week a different statement such as ‘I try to be just and fair’ is displayed in every classroom and around the school. Children are encouraged to think about the statement at the beginning of the school day, it is reinforced throughout the day and reflected upon before going home.
Children are actively involved in planning and leading worship, both in class groups and whole school settings. Shared acts of worship take place in an atmosphere of reflection and stillness, where we encourage each other to listen to God speaking to us and to respond.
Every child in school belongs to a house with an assigned saint. Our house saints are: St Cuthbert, St. Aidan St. Hilda and St. Bede. These northern saints guide and lead our children through their example.
Throughout the school, religious artefacts and displays help to educate us, focus our prayer and demonstrate our pride in our faith. Beginning with our entrance way, this continues through the corridors and flows into each classroom. Every classroom has its own displays and a prayer focus to aid with both academic and spiritual guidance.