The Religious Education Directory
At St Joseph’s, for several years we have followed the Come and See programme of Religious Education, recommended by the Archdiocese of Liverpool as our scheme of work. Following much work and reflection, the Archdiocese and the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales, have decided that our schools are to move to uisng the Religious Education Directory. This resource is very much based on the Scriptures as it is there, in the authoritative teaching of the Church, that we meet God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. All classes have gradually changed their curriculum from Come and See to the Religious Education Directory.
In the Religious Education Directory, we are invited to explore the promise of life for everyone. They offer the opportunity to search, to explore, to discover, and to respond; this is part of what it is to be human.
They aim to raise questions and provide materials for children to reflect on their own experience. For all children the teaching will raise questions of meaning and purpose and enable children to think critically, providing materials for reflecting on their own experience.
It will help them to explore the beliefs and values and the way of life of the Catholic traditions, and of other faith traditions, developing good attitudes and dispositions so that children are instilled with a ‘love of learning’ and a desire to go on learning.
Children will be offered a sense of self-worth through experience of belonging to the caring community of St Joseph’s.
Religious Education – Intent, Implement and Impact Statement
Intent
St Joseph’s is a Catholic school and we are committed to the Catholic faith, recognising and valuing every individual as special, beautiful and unique in the image and likeness of God. Religious Education at St Joseph’s is our core of the core; it respects and promotes each child’s innate capacity for wonder, awe, reverence and spirituality. Our Religious Education curriculum leads our children to aspire not to have more, but to be more; children are taught about God’s love; they learn about their Christian responsibilities; children are provided with experiences of church, Catholic and Christian traditions, as well as being taught to be respectful and understanding of people and traditions from other faith backgrounds. Through Religious Education our children learn about their unique place within the home, school and parish community.
Implementation
Our curriculum, based upon the Religious Education Directory (RED), allows our children to understand the importance of themselves as children of God, and allows children to meet God and understand him and his holy people in different ways. RE is embedded into all early learning goals, and RE is accessed by pupils in continuous provision. These early experiences set the faith foundations allowing our children to grow in faith with God, and to learn respect and tolerance to all. The programme has been developed to respond to the needs of children today in their faith journey and entirely driven and embedded in the sacred scriptures. It is designed to enable the pupils to grow in their religious literacy and understanding in a way that is coherent with current educational principles. Drawing on a range of themes throughout the liturgical calendar, our children are offered a range of creative opportunities to explore their ideas and share their understanding of, at times, challenging concepts with increasing confidence and independence. With many challenging elements of the RE curriculum, including the study of Scripture and more complex vocabulary, we encourage perseverance and resilience even when tasks may seem difficult. In turn, we encourage and celebrate the use of this higher level vocabulary to facilitate a whole range of activities including discussion, debate and role play.
Impact
Through their RE learning, the children listen to a reflect directly on sacred scripture. They are able to make links between their own lives and those of others in their community and in the wider world. Through RE our children are developing an understanding of other people’s cultures and ways of life, which they are then able to share with the wider community. Impact in RE is evident through books, displays and collective worships but mostly through the empathy, consideration and compassion shown by our children in school. Independence and creativity is fostered through the RE Curriculum and is also evident in the planning and increasing delivery of child-led prayer and liturgy. As well as developing this independence, our children learn to build resilience which enables them to deal with difficult subjects and complex emotions, which often arise during discussions. By using challenging vocabulary, we enable our children to express their understanding and emotions articulately as they learn to form their own opinions. RE offers our children the means by which to understand how other people choose to live and why they choose to live in that way, respecting diversity and celebrating difference. As such, RE is invaluable in an ever-changing society, and allows our children to use and understand the Gospel values they will use throughout their lives.