Religious Education Curriculum
As a Catholic School, we devote 10% of curriculum time to the teaching of Religious Education; this is separate from times of prayer and collective worship, liturgies and class prayer, which happen in addition to the taught curriculum.
Coverage of RE taught across the curriculum:
Nursery - At least 10% of teaching time
Reception - 2 hours 25 minutes
Year 1 to 2 - 2 hours 25 minutes
Year 3 to 6 - 2 hours 30 minutes
The Religious Education Curriculum is at the heart of St John Fisher RC Primary School.
As a Catholic school, our faith is entwined through every aspect of our school. Religion is a relationship of love between the child and God, and between the child and other people, in our local community and parish. At St John Fisher Religious Education consists of RE lessons, daily prayer, Acts of Worship and Celebrations of Liturgy. We feel it is important that children learn how to co-operate with and forgive others, following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Our school ethos and motto, scripture and Gospel values all support us to deliver this and help pupils grow in their own personal journey of faith.
As a whole school, we follow the Catholic Religious Education scheme entitled ‘Come and See’, which fulfils the requirements of the Bishop's Conference and the Curriculum Directory for Religious Education, which sets forth the expectations for what should be covered by Religious Education teaching in Catholic Schools in England and Wales. Children are assessed in RE through our use of the Diocese of Southwark's Age-Related Standards (3-19) in Religious Education. This also helps teachers to ensure that learning is suitably pitched in order that RE is as interesting, enjoyable and challenging as any other curriculum subject.Links are made with the pupils’ own experiences, universal experiences and with the experiences of other faith traditions.
'Come and See' was developed to respond to the needs of children today in their faith journey, to enable them to grow in their religious literacy and understanding in a way that is coherent with current educational principles. It is designed to support teachers in their delivery of religious education.
At the heart of the programme is the mystery of God’s self revelation of love through Jesus Christ. 'Come and See' gives pupils the opportunity to explore the mystery of faith through Scripture and Tradition.
'Come and See' is an invitation to exploration and a promise of life for everyone. 'Come and See' offers the opportunity to search, to explore, to discover and to respond; this is part of what it is to be human.
Children – 'Come and See' the wonder of all that is within them and beyond.
God – Offers the invitation to 'Come and See'
Teachers – Facilitates the opportunity for children to 'Come and See'
Each topic, opened up through: Explore, Reveal and Respond.
Within Explore –children begin to look at and focus on the experience with their own lives – concerning themselves, their relationships and the world.
Within Reveal – The heart of the process where knowledge and understanding of the catholic Faith is revealed through the Word, in Scripture, Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian living.
Within Respond –this is where the learning is assimilated celebrated and responded to in daily life.
Throughout a pupil’s school journey they will each have the opportunity to explore different faiths and religions as part of this curriculum, in particular, Judaism and Islam.
The priests of our parish regularly visit the school and are a link with the wider community of the St John Fisher Church. We regularly hold masses /services at school and at St John Fisher Church. Our school chaplains are actively involved in these.
Religious Education Intent
Religious Education Subject Overview
'Come and See' Yearly Overview
Scripture Grid from 'Come and See'
RE Progression of Skills and Knowledge Map
RE Big Questions Grid
Parents' RE Newsletter Autumn Term
Parents' RE Newsletter Spring Term
Parents' RE Newsletter Summer Term
Continuing our learning about other faiths at home and at school
“RE lessons are absolutely the best because they are often very creative which allows me to explore and expand my knowledge in different ways. I always feel I achieve more when I am creative”.
Year 6 (Elizabeth)
"We light a candle at the start of our RE lessons and sometimes we draw pictures about what we learnt."
Year 1 (Joe)
"I like our RE lessons because we think about God and Jesus. We put some of our work and photographs in the Big Book."
Year 2 (Caterina)