At St Patrick’s, we follow ‘Come and See’ Catholic Primary Religious Education Programme. Come and See is an extensive programme which covers a range of challenging themes from EYFS up to Year 6. In each theme Come and See offers children the opportunity to explore, reveal and respond. At the end of each topic, the children reflect on what they have learnt through class liturgical prayer.
The programme has been developed to respond to the needs of children today in their faith journey, to enable them to grow in their religious literacy and understanding in a way that is coherent with current educational principles.
It is designed to support teachers in their delivery of religious education. It integrates the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Levels of Attainment and the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory.
At the heart of the programme is the mystery of God’s self-revelation of love through Jesus Christ. Come and See gives pupils the opportunity to explore the mystery of faith through Scripture and Tradition.
It is important to us that our children see themselves as part of a wider community. During the academic year, children will learn about other faiths including Islam and Judaism.
RE Overview
RE Curriculum Statement
Intent
As a catholic school, the RE curriculum is central to the whole school curriculum and underpins all teaching. We strive to enable all pupils to acquire the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values needed to enable them to thrive by living out school motto “May Christ be Seen in Us.”
Implementation
We aim that the children receive an enriching experience which reflects our school motto. We follow the “Come and See” scheme of work together with collective worship and attendance at mass.
- We also visit other places of worship.
- Invite members of other faiths to visit the children.
- Perform Nativity plays.
- More than Dance performances.
- Fundraising for a variety of charities as chosen by the children.
Impact
‘May Christ Be Seen in Us’ is our well established school motto, which is at the heart of everything we do at St. Patrick’s. We see this being lived out in our children’s school life through their responses to charitable work, their contributions to liturgy in school and in the reflective work recorded in their R E books.
The children know they have a responsibility towards one another and demonstrate respectful behaviour to all. They have a positive attitude to people of any religion and an understanding of cultural beliefs different to their own.
As they grow in faith, morality and spirituality they develop the skills needed to take a constructive place in the modern world.
Religious Education is taught throughout St. Patrick's Catholic Academy using the Come and See programme. “Come and See” is an invitation and a promise of life for everyone. The invitation is open to all. In response to the question ‘Where do you live?’ Jesus invited the disciples to ‘Come and See.’ They went with Jesus and spent the rest of that day with him.
We recognise that all children are at different stages in their journey of faith; for some children RE is catechesis and part of their formation in the faith. Those who receive the invitation to ‘Come and See’ may also offer it to others. In the same invitation we remember that for some of our children RE will be evangelisation, the first opportunity to hear the good news.
Religious Education is a core subject of our curriculum, teaching and learning in RE makes up 10% of curriculum time. It is taught rigorously with the same expectations as other core subjects whilst maintaining a creative element and encouraging children to question and reflect.
Each term pupils’ study three topics, each lasting four weeks following a common theme across the school. As the children move through school this theme is developed further, appropriate to the pupils age and stage of learning.
The structure of the 4 week topic consists of:
Explore (1 Week)
- Introduces the topic
- The children’s life experience is explored
- The questions raised are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected upon
- Focus on AT2 Reflection on meaning.
Reveal (2 Weeks)
- Heart of the programme
- Knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith revealed through Scripture, Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian living
- Focus on AT1 Knowledge and Understanding & AT2 Reflection on Meaning
Respond (1 Week)
- Learning is remembered, celebrated and responded to in daily life
Other Faiths
Judaism is taught in the Autumn Term.
Islam is taught in the Spring Term.