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We are proud to share and celebrate with you many of the elements which make St. Gregory's Catholic Primary School so special. Being a Catholic school, we place Jesus and the message of the Gospels at the centre of all that we do.
Religious Education at St. Gregory's Catholic Primary School
Religious Education Intent
RE permeates all that we do at St. Gregory’s Catholic Primary School. Our Mission Statement is lived out by all members of our school community daily. It is our intention when teaching Religious Education at St. Gregory’s that our children acquire the essential knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith.
It is our intention to immerse our pupils in the wonder of the world around them and to experience awe in the beauty of God’s creation; to uplift them by the worship opportunities created daily and for pupils to experience living and working in a faithful, praying school community so that their spiritual and moral development thrive.
Our aim at St. Gregory’s is to ensure that every child develops a deep respect for themselves and others as made in the image and likeness of God. That they are happy, confident and secure in their own stage of physical, emotional and spiritual growth.
We aim for our pupils to fully embrace a holistic approach to education, have a profound understanding of what it means to have a vocation and joyfully offer their gifts and talents in the service of others. That they have an excellent understanding of loving relationships and sexual development within the context of a Christian understanding. We aim for our pupils to be alert to the needs of others and to seek justice for all within and beyond the school community. That they all deeply value and respect the Catholic tradition of St. Gregory’s School and its links with the parish community and the archdiocese. That our children are able to pray with reverence and reflect deeply with heartfelt response to the Word of God and that they develop the knowledge and understanding of and a deep respect for other faiths.
Religious Education Implementation
Our RE curriculum is taught through the ‘Come and See’ Catholic Primary RE programme. For those already engaged in the journey of faith, RE will be a catechesis, and for some children, RE will be evangelisation, the first opportunity to hear the Good News of the Gospel. Through our ‘Come and See’ programme, our pupils are offered the opportunity to search, Explore, Reveal and Respond; this is part of what it is to be human. St. Gregory’s children will come and see the wonder of all that is within them and beyond them.
Search - Explore: is the introduction to the topic where the children’s life experience is explored, the questions it raises are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected upon. This takes one week of RE time to complete.
Revelation - Reveal: This is the heart of the programme where knowledge and understanding of the catholic faith is revealed through the Word, in Scripture, Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian living. This takes two weeks of RE time to complete.
Response - Respond: This is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. This takes one week of RE time to complete.
Three topics are taught every term (each topic lasting four weeks of RE time to complete).
At St. Gregory’s, we ensure that at least 10% of the weekly curriculum in each class is allocated for religious education, ensuring quality time is given for effective teaching and learning each week. Within each lesson, we aim for a balance between input, discussion and activity. During their religious education lessons, children might undertake activities such as discussing in pairs, groups or whole class, reading from Scripture and the Bible, making posters, paintings and recordings of their knowledge and understanding and interacting with different environments, including outdoors.
Collective Worship takes place daily for every child, whether in class, key stage or with the whole school and this forms an important daily part of the children’s spiritual growth. Pupils increasingly take responsibility for preparing and leading the worship as they move through the year groups.
Two ‘Other Faith’ weeks are taught each year to enable the children to learn about, discover and respect Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. Visitors from other faiths are often invited to our school to help introduce or deliver an ‘other faith lesson’ from the programme authentically.
RSE is taught through ‘The Journey in Love’ programme, a resource for primary schools on sex and relationship education. It is intended to support teachers and parents to enable the holistic growth of children. It is designed to help pupils develop an understanding that love is the central basis of relationships. To develop confidence in talking, listening and thinking about feelings and relationships. To ensure that pupils protect themselves and ask for help and support when needed. To help pupils to develop a healthy, safe lifestyle, to encourage them to reflect on their own relationships and respect differences between people. To prepare pupils to play an active role as citizens and to understand the catholic vision of what it means to be citizens of the kingdom/reign of God.
Children will learn about equality through the ‘No Outsiders’ scheme, which equips children to leave primary school happy and excited about living in a community full of difference and diversity, whether that difference is through race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or religion. Children will be given opportunities to discuss issues through a carefully selected range of age appropriate picture books within each year group.
Religious Education Impact
Our Religious Education curriculum is high quality and carefully structured. It is planned to demonstrate progression and a deeper understanding of the Christain faith and other faiths. There is termly assessment to ensure all of our pupils are making good progress. Monitoring of RE is rigorous through an annual cycle of review through learning walks, book looks, planning looks, informal lesson drop ins, monitoring of Collective Worship and data, moderation of work etc. Staff meetings and INSET sessions regularly focus upon the teaching, learning and assessment of religious education at St. Gregory’s.
The impact of RE at St. Gregory’s will be:
Our children are inspired and encouraged to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and to be the best they can be by being kind and respecting everyone and everything.
Our children will try to do their best in school and at home, working hard and caring for each other and for others.
Our children will know that they are all special in different ways and always try to include everybody in their friendship.
Our children will continue to grow with the Good News of Jesus they have learned about in the many scripture passages reflected on at St. Gregory’s.
Our children will live out the Gospel values and virtues developed at St. Gregory’s and be able to live their life to the full, being shining examples of Jesus’ love.