The Bishop’s Vision for Education is to make Christ known and loved through the provision of excellent Catholic education and schools intent on finding Christ in their daily lives and sharing that encounter with others.’
Intent:
As a Catholic School in the Diocese of Middlesbrough, St. Clare’s is committed to the Catholic faith, recognising and valuing every individual in our school and parish community as special and unique in the image and likeness of God. Our vision is based upon developing each member of our community so everyone reaches their full potential in the light of Christ’s teachings and the values in the Gospels. Together our community walks in the light of Christ.
As a Catholic school, we aim to teach and give all of our children a deep understanding of our catholic faith, traditions and liturgical celebrations. We share this responsibility with parents, the first educators of their children and with the parish where the children and their families worship.
Religious Education at St. Clare’s promotes awe, wonder, reverence and spirituality within every child. We ensure that each child will develop a deeper understanding of the catholic faith, promote respect for religious and moral values and tolerance of other races and religions. Each child is encouraged to develop and promote a clear understanding of the principles of catholic social teaching.
St. Clare’s provides a highly effective chaplaincy provision for each child to experience and practise showing love for others especially the vulnerable and the most disadvantaged in our society by participating in charitable work and raising awareness through campaigning.
Implementation:
RE is non-negotiable and a core curriculum subject. RE is followed by all teachers, in all year groups. RE requires 10% of the weekly timetable. In Key Stage 2 this equates to two and a half hours a week and in Key Stage 1 and EYFS this equates to two and a quarter hours per week. The 10% does not include prayer and liturgical prayer time.
Our programme of study is Come and See is based on the Religious Curriculum Directory produced by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales in 2012.
Each class covers 3 topics across a term in addition to two other faith topics across a year. These link teaching and learning in RE to the four strands of study in the RE Curriculum Directory: Revelation, The Church, Celebration and Life in Christ.
Teachers’ planning for each topic links directly to the six learning foci and attainment targets in RE. Planning is thorough and teachers are encouraged to be imaginative and creative that is in line with our Teaching and Learning Policy. Teachers adjust planning accordingly to support those children who need more scaffolding. We have high expectations for all of our children and give all children a chance to achieve a mastery RE curriculum.
Assessment in RE is on-going during lessons, over a topic using the assessment sheets and over the year where by using driver words to move their learning forward. Our children are expected to know driver words very well as a self assessment tool and working within our feedback policy ensures that children receive highly effective verbal feedback in their lesson to support their next stage of learning. RE data is collected termly using age-related expectations and work is moderated within school and in a group of cluster schools. Parents are kept up to date about their child’s RE progress each term.
Parents are well informed about the RE curriculum, prayer life and catholic life and mission of the school through monthly newsletters, events, social media platforms and RE newsletters.
Impact:
At St. Clare’s, our children are happy learners and through RE they are able to deepen their appreciation of their faith. The children of St. Clare’s are able to talk, define, describe and discuss areas of RE. They confidently use skills such as retelling, describing, comparing and explaining the meaning of scripture and considering the impact of their own and others beliefs.
Through the provision outlined above, the impact of our RE curriculum on our pupils means that the majority of children:
- Achieve age related expectations in RE at the end of the academic year
- Are inspired by what they have learnt and continue to develop their knowledge of both the catholic faith and other faiths
- Are prepared for life in modern Britain and that they leave St. Clare’s school knowing that they have a purpose in the world and a responsibility towards one another and the most vulnerable in society.
Please also see our policies section for our RE, Collective Worship and RSE policies.
Our RE curriculum is aligned with our teaching and learning procedures. Please see teaching and learning model in the curriculum overview section.
Creativity in RE:
We have a strong commitment to ensuring children enjoy all their learning and our teachers are keen to make learning fun.
We have visits from More than Dance and Expedition Days who help us celebrate our faith in a creative way.
We also attend many liturgical singing events at St Mary’s Cathedral which further enhance our scripture knowledge and enjoyment within the mass.
We also love to learn about other religions and have enjoyed special celebration days such as Eid and Diwali. We have strong links with multi-cultural schools with Middlesbrough and multi-cultural events such as Middlesbrough Mela celebrations.
We work hard to ensure that our families of other faiths are well supported and understood. We enjoy learning and celebrating about their faith.
