r St Mary Queen of Martyrs Voluntary Catholic Academy | RE Curriculum
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RE Curriculum

Our curriculum for the teaching of religion.

RE

Our Mission Statement

Be the best you can be - Jesus loves you always.

St Mary Queen of Martyrs is a special place,
a place of joy, peace and love.

It is a place where we live, learn and love together; always aspiring to be the best that we can be!

Knowing that Jesus loves us, everything we do is done in his name.

Intent

Religious Education is an integral part of the curriculum at St Mary Queen of Martyrs’ and permeates all aspects of school life. It is the core subject which is central to our Catholic school. The aim is to promote an RE programme with objectives which considers and takes into account the religious and educational needs of our children

'Come and See' is an invitation to explore and a promise of life for everyone. The invitation is open to all. In response to the question; ‘where do you live?’ which was asked by the disciples, Jesus invited them to; ‘Come and See.’ (John 1:39) The disciples went with Jesus ‘and spent the rest of that day with him.’

Central to the programme are three basic human questions and the three Christian beliefs that are the Church’s response in faith.

• Where do I come from? Life – Creation

• Who am I? Dignity – Incarnation

• Why am I here? Purpose – Redemption

Implementation

The RE curriculum is led and overseen by Miss Allen and Miss Broadhead who monitor, evaluate, review and celebrate good practice.

We use Come and See which is a national Catholic Primary Religious Education programme delivered throughout our school from Nursery through to Year 6. It has been written by a group of experienced diocesan advisors and follows guidelines from the Diocese of Middlesbrough.

In  Come and See, big questions are considered in the light of the Scriptures and Traditions of the Church, as expressed in the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Come and See is developed through three themes based on the above documents of the Second Vatican Council, which are gradually explored each time at greater depth. They are Church, Sacrament and Christian living.

In St Mary Queen of Martyrs’ Religious Education in schools be regarded as the core of the core with the same systematic demands and the same rigour as other disciplines. It must present the Christian message and the Christian event with the same seriousness and the same depth with which other disciplines present their knowledge. However, it should not simply be regarded as one subject among many, but rather it should engage in interdisciplinary dialogue. Religious Education in schools underpins, activates, develops and completes the educational and catechetical activity of the whole school. (Religious Education Curriculum Directory 2012)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the human search for meaning, God’s initiative in Revelation who comes to meet us and our response of faith. This pattern guides the structure of the programme and informs the process of each topic, opened up through;

  • Explore
  • Reveal
  • Respond

Each topic is taught for 4 weeks.

EXPLORE

Our teachers help the children to begin to look at and focus on the experience within their own lives – concerning themselves, their relationships and their world. In this way the children are led to a deeper understanding, clearer vision and the discovery of significance and value of the experiential events of everyday life.

REVEAL

Our teachers understand that reveal is the heart of the process. Together we discover the Christian understanding of the mystery of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They explore the mystery of human life as revealed in the person, life and gospel of Jesus Christ Christians. It involves learning about Scripture, the teaching of the Church, prayers, rites, psalms, hymns and other expressions of Christian faith and the lives of outstanding Christians. This forms the basis of teaching our children to live out our faith on a daily basis and ‘be the best that they can be’.

RESPOND

This forms a central part of the children's RE learning journey where we come together to remember, rejoice and renew what we have learnt in the topic.

Remember is the first part of this section. The children will respond by remembering and celebrating all that they have learnt.

Rejoice is the second part of the section. There will be the opportunity to plan and take part in a celebration.

Renew the teacher helps each child to make an individual response, to hold on to and make their own, what they have understood of the topic.

Creativity is a central part of teaching in St Mary Queen of Martyrs. This enables our children to flourish and deepen their appreciation of their faith. We enhance their learning through practical first-hand experiences such as visiting our parish church. We work closely with our parish priest Father Mulholland, our chaplain Mrs Collinge and the other schools in our trust. We work with Mrs Ryan who is our RE Strategic Lead for the trust.

MULTIFAITH TEACHING

As part of ‘Come and See’ RE all children will study for two weeks of the year, Judaism and Islam. We teach Hinduism and Sikhism through planned interfaith experience days during the year.

This enables the children to have an understanding of what life is like for a child of another faith by the time they leave us.

All Come and See materials are in Curriculum RE tab on our website.

Impact

  • Staff and pupils understand that RE is the core of the core in St Mary Queen of Martyrs.
  • Children are happy learners within RE.  They experience a wide-ranging number of learning challenges in RE and know appropriate responses to them.
  • Through RE, children deepen their appreciation of their faith and fulfil their God-given talents to ‘be the best that they can be.’
  • Visits within RE (Covid restricted) have enriched the lives of the children and they are able to discuss how the experience impacted their knowledge and understanding.
  • Children of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well in RE, reflected in good or outstanding progress that reveals a clear learning journey.  Children talk enthusiastically about their learning in RE and are eager to further their learning in the next stages of their education.
  • Children are well prepared for the next stage of their education as confident and enthusiastic learners who are witness to Christ in their words and actions
  • There is a proven track record of success in assessments that reflects the impact of deep learning. (Covid restricted)
  • Robust RE action plans drive school improvement and CPD.
  • The childrens’ moral and spiritual journey grows and deepens throughout their time at St Mary Queen of Martyrs.
  • The children will grow to know and love God.
  • Children will live their faith in an active and positive way, always aware of the presence and love of Christ guiding them.
  • Children become religiously literate.
  • Through religious practice, the church’s traditions of prayer and worship will be upheld.
  • Children show love, forgiveness, compassion and justice, love and forgiveness in their relationships.
  • Faith plays a central role in the lives of the children and the decisions they make.
  • Children are confident, resilient and actively engaged in the wider society.
  • The school environment will reflect and celebrate our Catholic faith.
  • Children will be able to define, describe and discuss areas of RE. They will confidently use skills such as retelling, describing, comparing, giving reasons, explaining the meaning of biblical stories and considering the impact of beliefs.
  • Children will be able to reflect and consider important questions about RE.
  • Through Catholic social teaching (CARITAS), our children will be confident, resilient and actively engaged in the wider society.
  • Our children will be able to recognise, describe and discuss areas of RE. They will confidently use skills such as retelling, describing, making links, giving reasons, explain the meaning of biblical stories and considering the impact of beliefs (as recognised by the RE driver words.)

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