The Implementation of our Religious Education Curriculum

At the centre of our whole school curriculum is Christ. We plan our RE curriculum with varied opportunities for children to become learned and wise.

Lessons engage, provoke and inspire as teaching guides, support and challenge children to become the best versions of themselves. We use the Bishop’s Conference Directory topics: Revelation, The Church, Celebration and Life in Christ as a basis for all our planning, which are also outlined in the Diocesan RE wheels which every teacher incorporates in to their plans. The Directory provides ‘valuable guidance for the RE curriculum to ensure that our teaching and learning truly reflects the vision and breadth of the teaching of the Church’. This revised Directory was published so that religious educators can continue to meet the needs of the pupils of today.

We are currently using the Religious Education Directory ‘To Know You More Clearly’ in Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 and The ‘Come and See’ programme in Year 5 and Year 6. We are gradually introducing ‘To Know You More Clearly’ across school over the next two years. Many additional resources are used to give the children the best possible opportunities to deepen their understanding and challenge them in lessons which are engaging and make them think deeply through effective questioning. Teachers use CAFOD, The Way, the Truth and the Life, Caritas in Action and many other resources to ensure a rich and varied RE curriculum.

Other world faiths and important Liturgical celebrations are interwoven throughout the year as children are encouraged to question and reflect on their own lives and the religious lives of others. Class teachers plan for each topic ensuring that all children have the opportunity to master key skills and to think deeply and to question.

To ensure the children can be assessed accurately teachers ensure that the expectations of the Assessment Standards are integrated into the whole planning process. This will inform the teaching and ensure that expected standards are aspired to. The critical question to address at the planning stage is ‘what must I do, in this theme, to enable children to achieve the standard I know they can achieve?’

Teachers in every year group have the opportunity to share and evaluate plans with teachers in the same year group in these other local schools, on a regular basis. This supports a consistent approach across schools and enables good practice to be shared.

The Impact of our Religious Education Curriculum

At The Willows we view Religious Education as an integral part of learning and formation. An indicator of success will be the amount of pleasure and knowledge gained by the children from the study of RE and a deepening of their personal knowledge, understanding and response to Christ through their service of others. This will support children to love themselves, love each other and love Jesus Christ so that they are ready when they reach the end of Year 6 to commence the next stage of their life journey.

A further key indicator will be the way in which the children conduct themselves throughout our Catholic Life. As children attend Mass, receive the sacraments, build relationships etc. – with school or their families – children will be able use the knowledge from their Religious Education lessons to guide them.

Take a look at the Gallery below to see what our children have been getting up to…

Knowledge Organisers

At The Willows we use Knowledge Organisers to help our children, and staff, ensure the key objectives are covered.

Useful Documents