Religious Education is at the heart of our curriculum; it underpins all other subjects and stands as a key academic subject in its own right.
Religious education in Catholic schools aims to promote:
- knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and life;
- knowledge and understanding of the response of faith to the ultimate questions about human life, its origin and purpose;
- the skills required to engage in examination of and reflection upon religious belief and practice.
R.E. is taught through the 'God Matters' programme; through distinct themes each term the children are led to reflect on their own life experience and relate it to the teaching of our faith about the Bible, the Church, the Sacraments and the Christian way of life. Parents are kept informed in regular letters and take-home sheets about the current topics.
We aim to equip the children with the skills necessary to engage in religious thinking and with respect for the beliefs of people of other faiths and traditions.
Prayer and worship are vital parts of our school life; through shared liturgy and opportunities for quiet reflection we provide for the children’s spiritual development and the growth of their own personal faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome parents to our services and celebrations of Mass which are held to mark the liturgical seasons and main festivals of the Church year. Our school chaplain, Fr Chacko supports us on these occasions. This term, we are having individual class Masses in classrooms to help the children develop a deeper understanding of the order of the Mass.
We encourage the children to reach out to others, too, through support of charities such as CAFOD and links with the local community – all opportunities for faith in action. Parents do have the right to withdraw children from Acts of Worship and RE lessons – but if you have selected a Catholic school, we would expect you to have chosen a Christian ethos and its teaching.
"Religious education is never simply one subject among many, but the foundation of the entire educational process. The beliefs and values studied in Catholic religious education inspire and draw together every aspect of the life of a Catholic school." Statement from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, May 2000