St Mary's Catholic Primary School

 Diocesan Canonical Inspection  June 2018

We were delighted with our good rating in this inspection and are working hard to reach outstanding, particularly in RE.

Religious Education

Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School is part of the Saint Thomas Aquinas Multi Academy Trust which is made up of 17 primary schools and 4 secondary schools.  We follow the Come and See Catholic programme of study in R.E. under the guidance of the Nottingham Diocesan Catholic Education Service.  Take a look at our policies below and explore our website to see how R.E., Catholic Life and Collective Worship are central to all we do each day. 

We live by our school Mission Statement:

With Jesus as our guide, we promise to care for one another, to work hard, to build a community in Christ's love.

Our curriculum intent:  what are we trying to achieve in our curriculum?

Religious Education is at the core of our curriculum, allowing us to develop children's religious literacy, knowledge and understanding of their faith.  The 'Come and See' RE scheme of work is based on the truth revealed by God about ourselves, our life together, our mission in this life and our ultimate destiny with God.

‘Come and See’ invites pupils to explore the religious aspects of life, dignity and purpose within the Catholic tradition. Pupils reflect on personal experiences and links are made with the Catholic faith as well as other faith traditions.  

We strive to achieve:

• clarity of learning objectives based on the driver words: words which tell what is expected of children: to retell, to describe, to make links and to understand
• coverage of the key content especially the study of scripture, its meaning, message and relevance to our lives
• rigorous standards
• richness and creativity
• achievement of identified outcomes and for children to meet the expected end of year standards as outlined by the Diocese.
   

Our curriculum implementation: how will we go about achieving our intent?

At the heart of our RE curriculum are our 'Big Questions', which ultimately drive the learning of the topic. These questions remain open-ended and challenging, providing children with opportunities to engage with the deepest questions of life (Peter 3:15), encouraging pupil collaboration, discussion and reflection. Children are exposed to the mystery of God, the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Church, lives of Saints and the relationship between faith and life. Please find the ‘Topic and Big Questions’ grid below.
 

RE is a core subject and, in line with the Bishops' Conference recommendations, 10% of teaching time is allocated to RE per week. This equates to two hours for Infant classes, and two and a half hours for Junior classes.
A variety of teaching methods and resources are used, including stories from the Bible, songs and hymns, role play, drama, Art and discussion.
The pupils study three themes each term and 63 topics in total from Reception through to Year 6.
 

The themes are:

•  Advent term: Our church - Family, Baptism and Confirmation - Belonging, Advent and Christmas - Loving.
• Lent term: Local church - Community, Eucharist - Relating, Lent and Easter - Giving
• Pentecost term: Pentecost - Serving, Reconciliation - Inter-relating, Universal church - World.
   

All of the topics are rooted in the children's own experiences in life and our teachers then extend the learning further through reflection and purposeful activities. We look at scripture passages that match the topic being covered and unpick the meaning and how we can use this Scripture to enhance our lives and help us to be better Christians.
 

We assess our children in RE using the Nottingham Diocese End of Year Expectations document, which uses key driver words for each year group. We make use of external and internal moderation opportunities to ensure the quality of teacher’s judgments, as well as half-termly book scrutinies to ensure work is engaging and is sufficiently challenging for all pupils.
 

During the academic year, two other faiths are also taught; during the Advent term we learn about Judaism and during the Pentecost term, we discover more about another world religion such as Islam, Sikhism or Hinduism.
 

Each term, parents receive an information sheet that details what the pupils will cover as well as some suggested activities that can be done at home to support pupils. Please find these in the attachments below.
 

We will soon be hosting an information evening for parents to share some of the wonderful work produced by children and give a deeper explanation and insight into the programme.  A questionnaire will be put out at the meeting and we look forward to hearing your feedback.

You are most welcome to visit school to find out more about R.E. provision.  The Chaplaincy team would love to show you around too!