Religious Education
CO-ORDINATORS MRS R BIGGS and MRS M GEEN
VISION
“As a Catholic family we welcome all and value Christ in everyone, whilst seeking the highest possible achievements”
Welcome Care Work Hard
Our vision is how we approach the teaching of not only RE but it is embedded in the rest of our curriculum.
RE is a core subject and underpins the Christian values which define our St. Joseph’s community. RE is taught as an academic subject and is delivered for two hours a week in KS1 and two and a half hours in KS2.
The school uses ‘God Matters’ as the basis for its RE teaching, adapting it to the needs of the school. There are no significant changes to the Scheme of Work however, the questions we use to assess pupil understanding have been revised to ensure that we can gather improved evidence of what the pupils know and understand in RE, how they can apply what they learn and what their understanding of their faith means for them. It is important that the children can relate scripture to their own lives.
Children come to St. Joseph’s at different stages in their faith journey. Family situations vary as do children’s spiritual experiences outside school. Some may already be engaged in the scripture while others may be hearing the gospel teachings for the first time. In RE lessons we aim to guide all children in:
- knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and life;
- knowledge and understanding of the response of faith to the ultimate questions about human life, its origin and purpose;
- the skills required to examine and reflect upon religious belief and practice.
From an early age, children become familiar with Old Testament scripture and the Gospel teachings of the New Testament. As they move up through the school, they are encouraged to question and relate these teachings to their own lives. They learn that Jesus is with us today and that His messages are as relevant today as ever. ). The pupils enjoy talking about their faith and they use subject-specific vocabulary and build upon their prior knowledge and make links across the topics that are explicitly taught. The older children in particular are becoming very reflective and can think ethically and morally and they use their scripture-based knowledge to debate on world matters, asking pertinent and at times provoking questions of their peers and adults. They enjoy their lessons and engage in passionate debates at times, demonstrating an innate desire for learning, and they are curious about the world we live in and the choices that they and others have to make.
The Christian principles of love and forgiveness which emerge from our RE lessons, permeate the whole curriculum and life at St. Joseph’s. Children understand that everyone has been created in the image of Christ and that everyone is equal. Links are formed where possible with the wider community to provide enrichment opportunities to promote pupils’ learning e.g. CAFOD workshops and Vocational workshops.
To put our faith into practice, children become involved in various charity events throughout the year which raise money for communities in need, locally, nationally and globally. We have close links with CAFOD which is involved in overseas development and our Fairtrade work and Eco- Groups support Christ’s teachings relating to justice and equality.
While it is our primary intention to show children how to develop their own spirituality and their relationship with God, we also explore the teachings and philosophies of other world faiths. Children understand the need for tolerance in all aspects of life and we always seek to find similarities rather than differences.
At St. Joseph’s, children enjoy their RE lessons. There are many opportunities for discussion and debate and lessons are brought to life with drama, role play and many other creative activities. All classes contribute to a Class RE Big Book in which their individual prayers and reflections are recorded. The younger pupils work very well alongside teachers to prepare their prayers and children are developing the capacity to evaluate with confidence the quality of their private prayer and class liturgies, enabling them to identify how to improve for next time. Through the Big Book, older pupils explore news articles and comment and reflect on what this means for them, their community and the wider world.
Children leave St. Joseph’s confident in their understanding of their faith and comfortable in their understanding of other faiths. They know that Christ taught them to treat everyone with respect and to speak up for justice.
We have a number of Whole School and Phase liturgies for both staff and students during the year led by our School Chaplain, and our Parish Priest celebrates Mass at least once a term and on Holy days of Obligation for the whole school. At least twice a year, parents are invited to share communal worship with their children.
Religion Curriculum Topic Grid
|
Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
|
Creation Judaism Hinduism Catholic Social Teaching |
Catholic Social Teaching Advent Christmas |
Christmas Revelation Sikhism |
Year 5 visit to the Buddhist Monastery Lent Judaism Holy Week |
Easter Pentecost and Mission |
Pentecost and Mission Islam Sacraments |
Topic Information for Spring Topics of the RE Curriculum
Our RE Champions Visit to St. Michael's Abbey, Farnborough
The RE champions had their last trip on the St. Joseph's school minibus and it was a trip to see the National Shrine of St.Joseph in St. Michael's Abbey, Farnborough.
The children met Brother Huw who told them a bit about monastic life - including getting up at 4am for prayers! He went on to tell the children about Catholic traditions to do with the construction of churches. The children laid a candle for their own intention at the Shrine and were given a St. Joseph medal with a relic on it to keep so that they can use it to pray to St. Joseph to ask for his intercession. Once again the children were amazing, so serene and respectful. Well done champs for representing the school so well.
Year 4 learn about Judaism
In Year 4 we were lucky to have a talk by Rabbi Zvi on the Judaism. The children learned how our faith has its roots in the Jewish faith and how our Bible has some of the same important books that they read in their faith. Rabbi Zvi brought in many interesting objects from the Jewish faith including a toy Torah and Kippahs. Rabbi Zvi also spoke about how different our faiths are. As Rabbi Zvi was leaving, he said he was impressed by the children's knowledge and how much they wanted to learn about the Jewish faith.
Learning about Islam
One of our Year 6 pupils happily spoke about his own faith, Islam, to his peers. He created a PowerPoint Presentation in his own time and led a talk about this in the hall. He was very informative and spoke to the children about his faith and beliefs. The children were given the opportunity to ask questions at the end and they did indeed ask thought provoking questions. The children enjoyed learning about about the Five Pillars of Islam and learning about his experience of Ramadan.
Thank you to Musawwir for sharing his faith with us.
Year 5 Visit to The Buddhist Community Centre
On Monday 6th March, the children in Year 5 visited the local Buddhist Community Centre. They were met by one of the Buddhist Monks who lives there. He told the story of Buddha and how this influences the lives of Buddhists. He shared with them the Five Precepts of Buddhist Morality and led the children in a meditation. The children were given the opportunity to ask questions and develop their understanding further. They then got to explore the Temple and the many artefacts within it. This was an enjoyable event and a first for many of the children and the adults that accompanied them.
Infants learning about prayer from our Hindu visitor
The children in Year 1 were lucky to have been visited by Mrs Canning, a person of Hindu faith. She spoke with the children about how she prays and brought in beautiful prayer artefacts. She showed them written prayer and played music that would accompany prayer. The children enjoyed the visit very much.
Learning about Living a Vocational Life
Children in Years 3 - 6 were lucky to have a visit from Sister Cooey and Sister Lucy, Dominican Sisters, from An Apostolate of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. As Dominican Sisters, their mission is to proclaim the Gospel by our lives and words. They live in the New Forest, and live a community life of prayer and praise, of study and preaching, according to their Dominican tradition. They shared with us their reasons for becoming nuns and shared with us how they live out their daily lives. They answered questions asked by the children and were impressed by the thinking of the children in asking their questions. They were very happy with the welcome given by all in our school and and even took time to visit and pray in the Well.
Early Years Children Learning Through The Travelling Nativity
The Early Years children were very excited to have the travelling nativity arrive. They helped set the figures in place and talked about who each one was. After some time to look at crib, we gathered and held a worship. The lights were off except for one shining out from within the nativity scene. It was a beautiful time of quiet and reflection, listening to the story of the first Christmas together.
Updated July 2024