Religious Education Curriculum
At St. Elizabeth's, we follow The Way, The Truth, The Life scheme of work in every year group. As a Catholic school, we are all called to be disciples of Christ and stewards of creation. The aim of our carefully tailored curriculum is for the children to grow in their own spirituality and faith, through their love for God and one another, their learning about and from God and their praise of God and his creation. This should always be done with joy filled hearts.
Through their experiences in school, we aim to nurture an understanding that the children are part of a global community united through the values of the Gospel. With the Gospels and ‘Laudato Si’ as our inspiration, the children develop an understanding of their role in caring for our common home and caring for one another. We aim to provide an environment where the children will learn about the mission of Christ through careful study and emersion in scripture, which is rooted in experience. Through our curriculum, the children learn how Christ showed tolerance, compassion, justice, love and forgiveness to those most in need and are encouraged to think and ultimately act this out in their own lives.
We develop children’s understanding and knowledge of other faiths and cultures, respecting and appreciating alternative viewpoints. We recognise the social, moral, spiritual and cultural diversity of our communities, and encourage curiosity tolerance and respect, inspiring pupils to understand how life in Britain and the wider world is changing around them.
We aim to develop the children in…
- Joyfully placing scripture at the heart of their worship and prayer
- Engaging and responding to the challenge of the modern world in the context of the Gospel
- Thinking critically about their role as followers of Christ
- Developing their knowledge and understanding of their faith
Religious Education is at the centre of everything we do as a Catholic school and permeates through every aspect of the curriculum and school life. We ensure that a minimum of 10% of Curriculum time is allocated for RE teaching across all key stages. The requirements of the RE curriculum are met through the scheme ‘The Way the Truth and The Life’ which in turn meets the requirements of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory set out by the Bishop’s Conference of England Wales.
Through the high standard and exceptional teaching of RE, pupils are inspired to become critical thinkers and to reflect deeply upon their own faith journey. They are challenged through the topics taught, to think about how they put the teachings of the church and Jesus into practise in their own daily lives. The children are encouraged to continually think about their own spirituality and teachers plan opportunities for children to explore this through discussion, lesson, prayer and Prayer and Liturgy, which we call, Our Time With God. A high priority is given to the formation of pupils in their understanding of, involvement in and service to building the Kingdom of God and taking care of our common home.
Each phase uses the RE level descriptors from the Bishops’ conference to assess the attainment of the children and their progress is tracked on a termly basis. Teachers also highlight ‘I can statements’ which reflect the children’s learning across a unit. The children complete an assessed piece of work which is moderated by staff across the school termly to ensure judgements are well evidenced and verified. Children are assessed not only on the content of their assessment piece but on their individual, group and oral work through each topic. This enables both class teachers and the subject leader to monitor coverage and identify progress made throughout the pupils’ time at school.