The teachings of the Catholic Church underpin everything at Christ the King Catholic Primary School. There are daily opportunities for prayer and worship, where children learn the traditional prayers as well as being encouraged to develop their own prayer life. There is no requirement for children to be Catholic to attend Christ the King. Children can have a different faith, or have no faith at all. They are simply introduced to what it means to have a faith and are encouraged to ask questions, to be curious and to reflect on their personal spiritual or faith journey. There are daily Acts of Worship; some planned more formally and many completely designed and led by the children. Father Chacko is our Parish Priest and regularly leads liturgies and Masses, where scripture is celebrated in a child-friendly and age-appropriate way.
Religious Education is taught within the context of the National curriculum. Whilst all schools make provision for R.E. within the curriculum, in a Catholic school it is treated as a core subject, and as a result, we aim to devote 10% curriculum time to this subject. This means that the total time for explicit R.E. teaching at Christ the King is: 2 hours for KS1 AND 2.5 hours for KS2.
The Religious Education Directory (RED) curriculum is followed in RE lessons in PreSchool, EYFS, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4. Year 5 and 6 follow the Come and See Programme and they will fall into line with the rest of the school in September 2025, when they too will adopt the RED Curriculum planning.
A newsletter is sent home each term giving more detailed information along with important dates within the Church calendar.
Gospel Values
There are 8 values, based on the Beatitudes in Matthew's Gospel. They are explored and practiced every day in school, in order for every child and adult to be the best person they can be, following the teachings of Jesus.
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Humility - seeing life as a gift
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Compassion - having empathy
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Kindness - gentleness
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Justice - working for a fairer world
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Forgiveness - reconciling with self and others
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Integrity - do what you say
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Peace - committed to peace making and non-violence
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Courage - standing up for the truth
In recent years, the Diocese of Plymouth has introduced GIFT (Growing in Faith Together) Chaplaincy Teams. These are teams of children working with adults in our Parish to support our local community and to develop journeys in faith.
Our Year 6 children in the Christ the King Chaplaincy Team are integral to planning liturgical celebrations. They are all altar servers, having previously made their First Holy Communion within our Parish.
Mini Vinnies
At Christ the King, we have a very active Mini Vinni Group, working as part if the St. Vincent De Paul Charity. The children meet on a weekly basis and are proactive in 'See, Think, Do'; actively looking for members of our school community, our wider school community and our brothers and sisters worldwide that they can support. They take part in the Integenerational Links program by visiting and supporting our local care home..