St Laurence Catholic Primary RE Statement

Through God’s Grace a Community growing in Knowledge and understanding

As a Catholic school, we believe that all learning is about God. As such, the teaching and learning of RE is at the very heart of our curriculum. While RE exists as a discrete subject area in its own right, the skills, concepts, attitudes and beliefs learned in the subject permeate every area of life at St. Laurence School.  Our RE teaching follows the East Anglia Diocese RE Curriculum.

We recognise that young children have a natural aptitude for prayer. They are open to God and respond in joy, wonder, anger, disappointment and elation to the world around them.  Collective worship is an integral part of school life and central to our Catholic ethos.  The school holds a daily act of collective worship, enabling the children and staff to come together to re-focus our day with God at the centre. In Year 3, children are prepared for the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.

Intent – What we are trying to achieve?

RE is a core subject of the curriculum and all children will study RE for 2hrs 15 mins per week in Key Stage 1 and 2 hrs 30 mins per week in Key Stage 2.  

At St Laurence we will:-

• Enable each child to develop a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith, promote respect for religious and moral values and understanding of other races and religions
• Foster the growth of each child’s potential through the development of respect for self and others
• Promote the individual talents and abilities of pupils to ensure that each child fulfils his or her full potential.
• Promote an understanding and care of the environment in which each child finds themselves.
• Promote a close and co-operative relationship between home, parish and school.
• Ensure that RE is the foundation of the entire education process and permeates all areas of the curriculum and school life.
• Develop children so they meet the Diocesan Standards for Primary Religious Education, which will be taught by highly qualified staff who will engage children’s intellect, heart and imagination, inspiring enthusiasm and interest in RE.
• Develop an awareness of God’s presence in the children’s lives and the lives of others, developing the spiritual life of each child through prayer and reflection.
• Develop children who have a well-formed conscience allowing them to make sound moral judgements in the light of personal commitment to God.
• Support parents, family members, friends of whatever faith and parishioners to attend Masses and religious celebrations within the school and pupils will participate in parish activities outside of school time, promoting good links with the Parish of St Laurence.
• Prepare our children for life in a multi faith society by fostering respect for and understanding of rich cultural diversity.
• Link skills from other subjects which can be applied in RE and children will be encouraged to investigate the faith with enthusiasm and rigour.

Implementation – How do we translate our vision into practice?

• Carefully designed schemes of learning in RE ensure consistency and progress of all learners. We follow the agreed syllabus from the East Anglian Diocese.
• Each year group will study a number of units over the year. The units are developmental, building on previous knowledge and experience and taking into account of the children’s age and understanding.
• High quality teaching responds to the needs of children.  Spiral learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessment with teachers actively marking work in lessons in order to identify misconceptions early.
• Children will be highly engaged in RE lessons through the use of a variety of sources such as religious stories, scripture, religious artwork, songs, music, dance and religious signs and symbols.
• The life and work of key figures in the History of the people of God will be studied for example, lives of the saints.
• Approaches will include whole class teaching, group activities and individual work. Children will have opportunities to work individually as well as cooperatively and collaboratively, developing their own knowledge and expertise as well as sharing experiences with others.
• High quality input from experts and educational resources complement the delivery of specialist learning admirably.
• Pupils will participate in Mass, feast days, Holy days collective worship which will involve religious actions and worship including the celebration of the sacraments.
• The use of visits and visitors in school will enhance the RE curriculum.
   
  Impact – What is the impact of our curriculum on the pupils?
   
  Our principal aim is that children leave St Laurence with a wide range of happy and rich memories in RE formed through interesting and exciting experiences driven through an engaging and comprehensive curriculum. The Subject Leader for RE will evaluate provision in order to ensure that teaching and learning in RE is outstanding and to provide staff with high quality professional development in RE.
   
  Through their RE lessons and within the school’s context as a whole children will deepen their appreciation of their faith and fulfil their God-given talents. We want children of all abilities and backgrounds to achieve well in RE and this will be reflected in the outstanding progress that reveals a clear learning journey throughout their time with us at St Laurence. Children are able to talk enthusiastically about their learning in RE and are eager to further their learning into the next stages of their education and within their personal life. The children will grow to know and love God, develop their moral and spiritual nature and deepen their faith in an active and positive way, always aware of the presence and love of Christ guiding them.