Intent:

A Holy Family Theologian can articulate what it means to belong to the family of God, understands the responsibility of discipleship and constantly seeks to encounter God. Through their learning in ‘Building the Kingdom’ of the examples of leaders of the past and the present, they will be inspired to become the leaders of tomorrow and make a difference in society.

Children will be encouraged to know, understand and participate more fully in the life of the church and will appreciate the spiritual and religious dimensions in life as expressed in the Catholic faith tradition. Children will reflect on what it means to have faith and to develop their own spiritual knowledge and understanding. Children will build on the foundations they have from their families and Church life, preparing them for the next stage of their lives academically and spiritually.

Children will develop the skills to make links and connections, engage and respond, analyse and evaluate using sources of evidence from the Bible and knowledge from lessons to gain a deeper understanding of the teachings of the church. They will be encouraged to investigate their faith through their reading and questioning of the scripture that is posed to them as well as questions they themselves put forward. The skills they have acquired in other subjects will be applied in their Religious Education. Children will be able to use this knowledge to articulate what the Catholic faith means to them.

Implementation:

Religious Education is implemented through the scheme of The Way, The Truth and The Life throughout the school. This scheme promotes knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith; its relevance to the ultimate questions of life and the skills required to engage in religious thinking. The basic content of our scheme of work has as its point of reference the Religious Education Curriculum Directory. The broad themes with which Religious Education is concerned are: Revelation, Life in Jesus, The Church, and Celebration. The scheme covers the teachings and practises of the Catholic Church. Children’s experiences are explored and built upon to help them relate what they are learning to their own lives.

The scheme incorporates attainment targets: learning about the Catholic faith (AT1), learning from the Catholic faith (AT2) and analysis and evaluation (AT3). Ongoing informal assessment against the AT1, AT2 and AT3 indicators and formal assessment are used to inform planning and to identify areas for focus and support. Moderation of RE is completed internally and externally within partnership meetings with other local Catholic primary schools. Each year group have a different focus unit every half term. (These are outlined in the overview attached at the bottom of this page).

The whole curriculum at Holy Family is enriched and enhanced by two Catholic Social Teaching programmes: Caritas in Action, which looks at the social teachings of the church, and Building the Kingdom.

Children are given the opportunities to read scripture, to discuss, and unpick the meaning behind the messages that are given. To have the chance to make references to life now, seeing the links with their own life and experiences. Religious Education presents our pupils with the same academic demands and challenges as any other curriculum area. Ten per cent of the teaching time is dedicated to the teaching of RE.

RE is also taught throughout other subjects such as PSHE where children are given opportunities for personal development, well-being and community cohesion by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society. Children receive their entitlement for RSE through following ‘Journey in Love’, ‘Jigsaw’ and the statutory science curriculum. RSE is taught throughout the summer term for all year groups.

There are additional feasts throughout the year, which are celebrated such as All Saints, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, through ‘Building the Kingdom’ and ‘Catholic Social Teaching’ whether these are: assemblies, Masses or reflections in school or at church.

Each class in the school is named after a Saint. The class will learn about their Saint as well as celebrate their Saint on, or near, their feast day by having a class Mass with our parish priest, Fr. Eugene. Masses are attended throughout the year, these are celebrated either at our Parish Church or in school. Masses are attended on Holy Days of Obligation and school Masses to celebrate the beginning or end of a term. Throughout the year, classes have the opportunity to visit the Parish Church to learn about the features and artefacts with Fr. Eugene.

The children have opportunities to learn about other faiths through focused days throughout the year. The children learn about aspects of the religions to build their understanding and respect for others as they grow. These days begin with a virtual assembly led by a religious speaker of the focus religion, all pupils attend this. The children learn key facts about the faith, view artefacts and have the opportunities to ask questions. The rest of the day is planned for each year group to learn about specific aspects of the religion such as: places of worship, hearing stories or Holy books.

These days will develop each child as a person ready for their future for when they meet those with differing beliefs, whether in religion or opinion.

Impact:

Through their RE learning, the children have a clear understanding of the Catholic faith and are able to speak confidently and clearly, expressing what they believe and the messages that are shared with us in the Bible. The children will be able to ask and answer questions to develop their knowledge and understanding; building and expanding on prior learning or reflections. Children will be able to refer to scripture to articulate meaning and evidence, when explaining the faith to others. The children are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world as well as messages from the scripture read. Through RE our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to communicate to the community and will prepare them for life in the wider world. Through moderation of planning, lessons and books, within school, partnership and diocese, we can be sure that progress is made across all year groups and where needed, support is provided to ensure all pupils achieve at their own rate and pace. Evidence of the impact of RE is not just collated through books, but also through pupil conferencing and the children’s contributions to Liturgy and Prayer and Catholic Life. RE offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and to understand why they choose to live in that way. As such, RE is invaluable in an ever-changing world.

Children will deepen their understanding of who Jesus is, what they believe about him and his Church, and why they believe it. This helps shape them into well-rounded, informed citizens who develop a deep-rooted relationship with God and an understanding of their Catholic faith. It also develops our pupils into leaders of tomorrow who are ready to go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel confidently, building the kingdom of God through compassion, justice, love and forgiveness in their relationships with others. From the opportunities provided, children progressively take ownership of prayer and worship and actively take part in society to promote a better world and contribute to the common good.