RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

St. Stephen’s Catholic Primary School wholly believes that Religious Education is the foundation of all our teaching and the entire educational process. The Christian Catholic beliefs and values inspire and unify every aspect of our school life. The Gospel values underpin everything we do here and effectively, are the basis and spiritual influence on our school curriculum.

Our Religious Education curriculum, whilst aligned to the Religious Education Curriculum Directory, is organised so that units of learning are delivered through specific liturgical themes. The school follows the Come and See Catholic Primary Education Programme from Nursery to Year 6.

The following topics are delivered each term:

Term 1: Advent Term

• Domestic Church - Family

• Baptism and Confirmation - Belonging

• Advent & Christmastide - Loving

Term 2: Lent term

• Local Church -Community

• Eucharist - Sharing

• Lent & Eastertide - Giving

Term 3: Pentecost term

• Pentecost - Serving

• Reconciliation - Forgiveness

• Universal Church

In addition to this, pupils have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of other world faiths, through the teaching of Judaism and Islam. We recognise and celebrate the diversity of faith, cultures and traditions in both our school and the wider community. Therefore, pupils are offered the opportunity to deepen their understanding and enrich their experiences of what practising the other world faiths looks like for believers. Key themes which underpin our Religious Education curriculum are understanding, respect and tolerance and love, which are essential values in developing well-rounded, spiritual and respectful individuals.

As in other core areas of the curriculum, our Religious Education curriculum presents pupils with the same academic demands, challenges and opportunities to develop a clear sense of the teachings of the Catholic Faith. The Religious Education curriculum requires 10% of the length of the taught week for each key stage of education. (This translates to 2 1⁄4 hours per week in Foundation and Key Stage 1 and 2 1⁄2 hours per week at Key Stage 2). This time does not include time for weekly liturgical prayer services, Pastoral Care sessions, hymn practice and mass attendance. The teaching of Religious Education is clearly outlined on each class timetable.

At St. Stephen’s Primary Catholic Primary School, our overall aim is to place Christ at the centre of our curriculum and in essence, enabling our pupils to understand the teachings of Christ, underpins everything we do. The immediate aim of Religious Education is to promote knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, its relevance to the ultimate questions of life and the skills required to engage in religious thinking.

Pupil progress is regularly monitored throughout the year with the purposes of assisting our children's learning and to enable them to strive for a feeling of confidence and success in their understanding of the Catholic Faith. Teachers use the standards framework to ensure to clear progression of skills is employed and to monitor progress across each phase. Additionally, progress is monitored through discussion, questioning, posing problems and giving opportunities to present their knowledge to others in a variety of ways, e.g., end of class Liturgical Prayer, Pastoral Care sessions and regular opportunity for prayer throughout the school day. Religious Education is assessed on a termly basis and to support teacher judgement, in house moderation conducted in the summer term.