Religious Education
At Our Lady of Grace we recognise that we are building the foundations for life-long learning with Christ at the centre. Our Mission Statement is: “We are learning to grow and love like Jesus”. At Our Lady of Grace Infants, Religious Education is a core subject that permeates throughout the school and inspires our children to be the best they can be. Every child is made in the image of God and at Our Lady of Grace Infants we want all our children to be brave and to follow Pope Francis' advice
'Do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things!'
POPE FRANCIS
We want to capture and nurture a love of learning that our children will carry with them as they grow. We strongly believe that a caring, stimulating and inclusive environment is essential to the development of our children and that learning should be fun, practical, challenging and thought-provoking. RE is carefully planned to ensure that all our children are encouraged to reach their full potential. In order to achieve this the Governors, Headteacher and Staff recognise the need to constantly review our practice to ensure our goals are being achieved. Every child should be happy, secure and confident. We value every child as a unique individual and provide a supportive and secure environment in which every child can flourish and learn – based on the Gospel values in working partnership with parents.
Classroom Religious Education:
Religious Education is a core subject. The primary purpose of Catholic Education is the step by step study of the mystery of Christ, the teaching of the Church and its application in daily life, therefore the principal aims of the school in terms of the Religious Education which it provides are:
- to lead the children to a deepening knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Faith.
- to provide opportunities for the children to develop a loving relationship with God and their neighbour.
- to encourage children to respect and be fully aware of the needs of others as equal members of God’s creation.
There are many opportunities for all children to explore their faith and deepen their relationship with Christ. This includes daily acts of prayer amd liturgy opportunities. The parish works in full partnership with the school in supporting and enhancing the education and formation of our children.
At Our Lady of Grace, we aim to guide the children to become religiously literate young people who have the knowledge, oracy, understanding and skills to think spiritually and theologically and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday lives.
Religious Education is taught for at least 10% of the weekly timetable. Our Religious Education curriculum is based on the delivery of the Curriculum Directory supported by the Margaret Carswell units which are used as a guide for the teaching and learning of Religious Education throughout the school. Our Religious Education curriculum enables the children to explore key questions of life from the Christian tradition and how to put what they have learnt into context. We work closely with our local Parish and we value the partnership between home, school and parish and the wider community.
To help the children develop their knowledge of their faith, we use the Dr Margaret Carswell Framework Model, which is taught in a three year cycle and links to the liturgical year. The content of this Model offers a systematic programme of study which comprehensively covers all the strands and requirements of the Curriculum Directory. Each topic plan ensures progression and depth of provision from the following areas:
- Revelation: Story, Scripture, Memory and Tradition of the Church
- Church: Community, Discipleship, Witness
- Celebration: Sacrament, Ritual, Prayer, Worship, Liturgy
- Life in Christ: Lifestyle, Morality, Values, Attitudes
Planning and Assessessing in RE
At Our Lady of Grace, we use the Age Related expectations to plan and assess pupils in RE. These are a description of what is expected of pupils by the time they reach the end of a phase. The phases are:
3-5 years
5-7 years
Within the standards, there are two sections relating to the age phases 3-5 years and 5-7 years:
AT1: Knowledge and Understanding (learning about Religion)
AT2: Engagement and Response (learning from Religion)
Framework for Religious Education 3 Year Cycle
Other Faiths
To raise pupils’ awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities in order to respect and understand them, the whole school spends time learning about different beliefs and cultures preparing pupils for life in modern Britain.
Please click here for our RE Overview
Please click here for our Religious Education Policy
Please click here for our Prayer and Liturgy Policy
Please click here for our RE Assessment Information
RHE
At Our Lady of Grace Catholic Infant School, we deliver the Relationship and Health Education curriculum through the Life to the Full programme produced by Ten Ten and supplement it with additional resources to ensure coverage. By using this programme, staff and parents deliver a fully-integrated and holistic programme in that truly enables children to ‘live life to the full’ (John 10:10). There is an entire platform of creative resources that engage, inform and inspire children, parents and staff. This includes interactive video content, story-based activities and original worship music, all whilst employing a wide range of teaching tools and an accompanying programme of classroom prayers.
