RE Curriculum Statement

As a Federation of two Catholic Primary schools we recognise and value every individual as special and unique in the image and likeness of God.

Religious Education across the Federation of St Edmunds and St Josephs’ respects and promotes each child’s innate capacity for wonder, awe, reverence and spirituality. Our Religious Education curriculum leads our children to aspire not to have more, but to be more; children are taught about God’s love; they learn about their Christian responsibilities to other people and the environment. Our children are provided with experiences of church, Catholic and Christian traditions, as well as being taught to be respectful and understanding of people and traditions from other faith backgrounds. Through Religious Education our children learn about their unique place within the home, school and parish community and the wider world.

The Federation use the RE Curriculum Plan for Primary Schools created by the Diocese of East Anglia. This curriculum plan encompasses all aspects of the “Curriculum Directory for Catholic Schools” and recent Papal encyclicals; Laudato Si’ and ‘Fratelli Tutti’.  The curriculum follows the liturgical year, the sacramental life of the Church (the seven Sacraments), the Trinity, and offers opportunities for a range of liturgies e.g. the Rosary, Meditation, Processions and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Our curriculum contains termly plans for each year group from Foundation Stage to Year Six and we draw upon a variety of resource materials including ‘The Way, the Truth and the Life’, and ‘Come and See’ schemes. There are knowledge organisers for each topic which include specific vocabulary for each unit.

Opportunities for teacher assessment are identified, as well as pupil self- assessment within the ‘I Can’ statements provided by the diocese. Verbal and written assessments are moderated internally across our Federation and externally with other Catholic schools in our vicinity and at diocesan meetings.

As part of our curriculum:

• The children are given opportunities for celebration, prayer and reflection in implicit and explicit ways.
• The children are taught the language of religious experience - a 'literacy' in religious activities, places, stories, symbols and rituals, people and objects.
• The children have access to appropriate materials about other faiths.

Across our Federation 10% of teaching time is dedicated to the teaching of RE.