Religious Education

At St Margaret Clitherow, Religious Education (RE) is at the heart of our Catholic mission. Through the Religious Education Directory (RED), we aim to develop religiously literate and consciously engaged young people who have the knowledge, understanding and skills to reflect spiritually, think ethically and theologically, and recognise the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.

The outcome of excellent Religious Education is:

“Religiously literate and consciously engaged young people who have the knowledge, understanding, and skills appropriate to their age and capacity to reflect spiritually, and think ethically and theologically, and who recognise the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.”
(Religious Education Directory, p.6)

The Aims of Religious Education

Through our RE curriculum, we aim:

To engage pupils in a systematic study of God, the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Church, the central beliefs of the Catholic faith, and the relationship between faith and life.
To enable pupils continually to deepen their religious and theological understanding and communicate this effectively.
To present an authentic vision of the Church’s moral and social teaching, providing pupils with a sure guide for living and the tools to engage critically with contemporary culture and society.
To give pupils an understanding of the religions and worldviews present in the world today, together with the skills to engage in respectful and fruitful dialogue with those whose beliefs differ from their own.
To develop pupils’ critical thinking skills, helping them bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture.
To stimulate pupils’ imaginations and encourage a search for personal meaning as revealed in the truth of the Catholic faith.
To enable pupils to relate the knowledge gained through Religious Education to their understanding of other subjects across the curriculum.

Religious Education is at the heart of life at St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School and is regarded as the core and foundation of the entire educational process. Through Religious Education, we communicate the beliefs, values and teachings of the Catholic faith which inspire and unify every aspect of school life and the curriculum. As a result, every child is valued for who they are as a unique child of God and is given the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. This gives St Margaret Clitherow its distinctive nature as a Catholic school.

Children who become part of St Margaret Clitherow School are encouraged to develop a personal relationship with God, to know and understand the teachings of the Church, and to grow in their understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We believe that Religious Education is not simply one subject among many, but the foundation upon which the whole curriculum is built. Alongside learning about the life and teachings of Jesus, children also study a variety of world faiths and religions. This helps them to develop respect, understanding and appreciation of the wider community beyond home and school. We seek to highlight the values and beliefs that unite people, recognising that all are created and loved by God and called to live together in harmony.

From Reception to Year 6, we follow the Religious Education Directory (RED), To Know You More Clearly, which has been introduced by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for all Catholic schools. Rooted in Scripture, Tradition and the teaching of the Church, the RED provides a rich and engaging curriculum that enables children to encounter God and deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith. Through the study of key theological themes, the liturgical year, prayer, scripture and Catholic Social Teaching, pupils are supported in developing both their religious literacy and their relationship with God.

The curriculum is structured around six branches: Creation and Covenant, Prophecy and Promise, Galilee to Jerusalem, Desert to Garden, To the Ends of the Earth, and Dialogue and Encounter. These branches help children understand God's plan of salvation, the life and mission of Jesus Christ, the work of the Church, and the importance of dialogue with people of other faiths and worldviews.

This scheme seeks to present the teaching of religious education in a sequential and progressive form, rooted in the liturgical year. The framework has four structural elements:

Knowledge lenses which indicate what should be known by the end of each age phase. These are split into hear, believe, live and celebrate.
The ‘ways of knowing’ are the skills which develop as the children progress through their curriculum journey. These are split into understand, discern and respond.
Expected outcomes are set for each age phase and indicate what pupils are expected to know, remember and be able to do.
Curriculum branches are the way the programme of study presents its model curriculum. There are six half term branches which are the same in each year group:

Autumn 1- Creation and Covenant - Encounter the God who creates and calls all people with a focus on the accounts of Creation.

Autumn 2- Prophecy and Promise - Explore the expectant waiting for the Messiah through the Advent season.

Spring 1- Galilee to Jerusalem - Experience the ministry of Jesus and the Word of God. They will learn through parables, encounters, miracles and teachings.

Spring 2- Desert to Garden - Study the season of Lent and its culmination in the events of Holy Week.

Summer 1- To the ends of the Earth - Study the events that flowed from the Resurrection and Ascension in the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work of the apostles and early Church.

Summer 2 - Dialogue and Encounter - Explore how people of different faiths and beliefs live alongside one another with respect and understanding. Pupils will encounter the beliefs, practices and traditions of other religions, recognising both similarities and differences while developing a deeper appreciation of their own faith and the dignity of every person.

We believe that the school alone cannot undertake a child’s religious education. Religious Education begins at home at Baptism; the parents are the child’s first teachers and support the child with his/her first religious experiences. The school works in partnership with parents and parish to enrich the lives of our children. Parents are kept informed about what the children are learning via our half termly newsletters. Parents are also informed of the Programmes to be used in the preparation for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.

Religious Education is further enhanced and given expression through the liturgical life of the church by attendance and active participation in the Mass and the sacraments through the observance of religious services and festivals.

For more details please see the RE Policy and RE Handbook.