Intent

Vision Statement:

We recognise that the Curriculum reaches far wider than the learning that happens in formal lessons in each classroom.  It includes everything that a child experiences in their time at our school and develops the very person they are becoming, with their talents, their needs and their aspirations for the future. Each experience provides a learning opportunity to develop and prepare our children for life in modern Britain as global citizens through the lens of Catholic life.

At St Gregory's, we are inclusive and recognise that everyone has their own unique God-given talents. Our curriculum is progressive and builds on prior knowledge, understanding and skills so that we develop our whole school community academically, spiritually, emotionally, morally and socially. This enables our children to develop cultural capital and become righteous citizens who give to society. We provide creative and engaging opportunities that inspire and motivate our children to become lifelong learners and have aspirations to be the very best they can be.

In RE, we aim for all of our children to see themselves as children of God, developing an awareness and understanding of their own spirituality and showing a respect for others and their faiths.  We endeavour to inspire a sense of curiosity in our children and develop their enthusiasm for RE, recognising that the skills and knowledge they learn through RE can be used to have a positive impact on God’s world around them.

To be able to see themselves as children of God and have an awareness of their own and other’s spirituality, the children will need to build up the skills, knowledge and understanding of RE. They will need to understand and use the language of RE and apply these RE skills and knowledge across the curriculum, making connections both within RE and across other subjects too.

To be successful in RE children need to:

• Become religiously literate and engaged young people 
• Demonstrate knowledge understanding and skills, (appropriate to their age and capacity) 
• Reflect spiritually
• Think ethically and theologically
• Show awareness of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.
• Show respect and care towards those of other faiths.

They will do this through:

• AT1 – Knowledge and understanding (learning about religion)
• AT2 – Engagement and response (learning from religion)
• AT3 – Analysis and evaluation

Implementation

The Department of Catholic Education and Formation of The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales end of phase outcomes for RE are:

EYFS

KS1 and KS2

The Department of Catholic Education and Formation of The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales is the part of the St Gregory’s curriculum that maps out the knowledge and skills that we want our children to learn and experience in each subject. 
 

How we plan for progression in RE at St Gregory’s:
The St Gregory’s Curriculum is designed around whole school themes, linked to the Liturgical Calendar. Each has been structured and sequenced in order to engage pupils in purposeful learning by building on prior knowledge and helping connect knowledge, understanding and skills year-on-year both within RE and across other subjects too.

In RE, our teaching sequence is linked to the Church’s Liturgical Calendar.

RE is taught for 10% of our curriculum time. This is 2 and 1/4 hours across each class across the school. We use the Clifton Diocese scheme of work along with our fellow Little Way Partnership of Catholic Schools that has been based on guidance from The Department of Catholic Education and Formation of The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. 

RE begins in EYFS and we know that there are many cross overs and links to the EYFS Curriculum/Development Matters Frameworks, particularly in Personal, Social and Emotional Development and People and Communities. This supports a smooth transition from EYFS to the KS1/2 Learning Outcomes and helps prepare our children for Y1. 

Once children enter Y1, they work progressively towards the aims of The Department of Catholic Education and Formation of The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales outcomes. To ensure progression, the teaching team worked together to plan out curriculum coverage and then the subject leader identified the progression of skills and vocabulary required at each stage of learning to prepare children for the next stage in their learning.
 

RE Curriculum Coverage
Coverage is based on the The Department of Catholic Education and Formation of The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales with objectives allocated across phases and year groups, to ensure a progression of knowledge, skills and understanding.  

RE Progression of Vocabulary
Vocabulary, at an age appropriate level, is paramount to the children’s understanding and ability to articulate their intent and enable questioning. It is, therefore, a key consideration in RE planning.  Key subject vocabulary is introduced at the appropriate time, building on prior knowledge. The key vocabulary can be located here.

Key vocabulary is also outlined on knowledge organizer sheets.
 

See RE Vision for more information