Religious Education
St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School
Vision Statement for RE (Intent)
Our vision for RE in St Gerard’s is for all our children, life in its fullness through development of their own unique gifts and talents- so that they grow as disciples of faith, hope and love, and bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Intent
We ensure that all of the children in St Gerard’s have an enriched RE curriculum which is promoted through a wealth of enrichments, which aim to support and develop our Catholic Life and which deepens our Collective Worship and liturgies- those in school and part of our extended parish life.
RE
Implementation
Lighting the Path
A Resource of work for teaching the Religious Education Directory (Primary RED) for EYFS-Y6
The religious programme of study, ‘Lighting the Path’ is the core RE resource used here at St Gerard’s school for EYFS-Y6.
This curriculum resource has been developed to respond to the needs of children today in their journey of faith.
Clear links are made with the children’s own experiences so that learning becomes meaningful for our children.
Lighting the Path gives our pupils the opportunity to explore the mystery of faith through scripture and tradition.
This, at times, is is supplemented with activities which link to Catholic Social Teaching (CST), CAFOD and Mission Together.
The religious education curriculum requires the teaching of six branches (2 each term).
Branch 1: Creation and Covenant
Branch 2: Prophecy to Promise
Branch 3: Galilee to Jerusalem
Branch 4: From Desert to Garden
Branch 5: To the Ends of the Earth
Branch 6: Dialogue and Encounter
Each branch includes 12 steps of learning. (Can I statements…)
Each step includes a way of knowing (understand, discern or respond) and a skill (understand, discuss, apply our, reflect on).
It is important to us that our children see themselves as part of a wider community. To ensure that children learn about the many similarities between major world religions, we learn about two other faiths per year.
Alongside this formal teaching of RE, children take part in Acts of Collective Worship each day. They also take part in a wealth of class and whole school forms of worship, including: masses,traditional liturgies, dance, liturgical liturgies, praying the Holy Rosary, travelling the Stations of the Cross, reflections etc
Christmas and Easter productions are shared with families and the parish community.
Classes visit St Mary’s Cathedral, as part of their RE work: links to vocation, the parish community, the Liturgical year and the Sacraments. The parish priests, Fr Paul and Fr Steven support the children in their religious life.
KS2 pupils all take part in weekly Liturgical singing- led by the Assistant Diocesan Music Director, Mr Steven Maxson.
The hymns they learn are linked to the sacraments, Family Masses, key celebrations in school, church and the Liturgical Year.
Class RE Working Walls
All classes have an RE working wall which supports pupils in their understanding of the RE topic which they are covering. The working walls become increasingly detailed as pupils move through the school. By Y5/6, these include elements which support pupils in making links, giving reasons and showing an understanding of : sacraments, scripture, Christian life, Christian belief, religious art, hymns and prayers.
