RE Curriculum Intent Statement
Growing in God’s Love
Our curriculum begins the moment children are welcomed into our school and is comprised of all the carefully crafted decisions we make that impact our learners. Our aim is to prepare our children for their futures, enabling them to use their God-given gifts and talents, to achieve and progress spiritually, socially and academically — growing in God’s love. Our children are encouraged to live out our virtues and take advantage of every opportunity so that they are best-prepared for life to the full in an ever-changing world.
We nurture self-belief, courage, respect and ambition in our children with our mission that together, for the common good, we are growing in God’s love.
‘Love one another just as I have loved you.’ John 13:34
At St John’s we follow the Leeds Catholic Diocese design for teaching R.E.
At St John the Baptist we believe our R.E curriculum provides a range of opportunities and enhancements for all our pupils. Within R.E this includes elements such as:
Pupils of all ages enjoying trips to our Parish Church of St John the Baptist as well as liturgies in school.
Our chaplaincy team leading our faith group, responsible for sharing and developing the faith of children across the school.
Children leading collective worship in classrooms, taking on responsibilities and sharing in prayer and reading.
Links across our BKCAT allowing pupils to engage in liturgical and charitable projects together.
A wide range of creative opportunities to be involved in the Catholic life of the school, including singing, dancing, art and music.
Our Mini Vinnies, a long-standing charitable group raising money for local, national and global communities.
As a school we will:
- Build a deep sense of faith for all pupils, defined by our mission statement and experienced through the strength of Catholic Life within our school.
- Show our high expectations for all pupils who have been made in the vision and likeness of God, known by God before all others. These expectations will be modelled in R.E lessons and across the curriculum as we work hard to ensure our children are able to live life to the full (John 10:10).
- Provide a broad and balanced curriculum for every child, ensuring all children have the religious knowledge of our Catholic Faith and the other faiths (Judaism and Islam) taught through our curriculum model.
- Use creative learning opportunities wherever possible so that children can learn actively and in varied ways. Art, drama, music and dance are all learning styles we are building into R.E lessons to ensure every child can thrive, showing the depth of their R.E ability.
- Ensure there are opportunities for connections to be made within Christianity and other world religions so that pupils are able to know and remember more.
- Give children a thirst for learning so that they hold a lifelong commitment to acquiring knowledge and skills, as well as developing their faith. Pupils will use their God-given gifts and talents to contribute to society as respectful and active citizens.
- Build resilience and courage as we prepare them for a modern world in which they can adapt, flourish and thrive.
Our Vision for Religious Education at St John the Baptist
‘Religious education is more than just one subject in the curriculum.
In Catholic schools it is the core of the “core curriculum”.’
(Pope St John Paul II, 1988)
All primary schools within our Diocese use The Way, the Truth and the Life (WTL) programme as the main resource to support the teaching of religious education. This is supplemented by additional resources and regular professional development focused on creative and engaging approaches.
The curriculum is delivered through half-termly topics around themes linked to Creation, the Church, Sacraments, Discipleship, Incarnation and the Liturgical Year.
At the heart of Catholic education lies the Christian vision of the human person. This vision is explored in religious education (RE), making RE the core subject in a Catholic school. The specific contribution of curriculum RE is primarily educational. Its purpose is to draw pupils into a systematic study of Catholic Christianity and to explore how Christianity and other religions contribute to culture, personal commitment and action in everyday life.
We believe that a greater understanding of other faiths and religions can only serve to enhance the children’s understanding of what it means to be a Catholic in our society today. We want our children to be outward looking, tolerant and knowledgeable.
The children will not just learn about their own faith, but also other world faiths including Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism. We will also ensure that the children experience and learn about key festivals in faiths other than Catholicism, for example Yom Kippur and Eid.
‘We hear the stories from the bible, especially about the life of Jesus.’
‘It is my favourite subject as I like to write about the bible stories.’
‘We find out about the different signs and symbols of baptism.’
‘We find out that Jesus shared a meal with his friends. We remember this when we go to Mass.’
Please see the documents below for further information relating to this curriculum topic. For information about this curriculum topic in Early Years Foundation Stage please visit our dedicated EYFS Curriculum page.
For further information about our RE curriculum, please contact office@sjb.bkcat.uk