Religious Education

Dear Lord,

We thank you for our school

And pray that it will be:

 A place where all are valued and none left out

A sharing community.

A place where we will grow more like you

In thought and word and deed.

A place where can learn to make the most

of each opportunity

A place of peace, happiness and truth,

Love and security.

We thank you for

Our Lady and St Werburgh’s Catholic Academy

 Our School, Your School.  Amen

Discerning Disciples

As a Catholic school, Jesus Christ remains central to every aspect of school life all pupils are educated in the beliefs and devotional practices of the Catholic church. Participation in daily collective act of worship remains at the helm of every morning and afternoon session, within RE lessons and at the end of each day. Every class prepares and leads Mass once a term, with parents, families and parishioners warmly welcomed.

The Catholic RE scheme ‘Discerning Disciples’ is followed throughout the school. This is supplemented by work on the saints and stories from the Old and New Testaments, Circle time sessions and Personal, Social and Health Education. Children participate in special Celebrations of the Word during the school year which are timed to coincide with events in the Church’s calendar.

Discerning Disciples is the religious education curriculum for Catholic primary schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It has been developed in full accordance with the Religious Education Directory (RED), the curriculum directory issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales which sets out what pupils in Catholic schools should know, understand, and be able to do in religious education.

The curriculum supports the shared mission of our diocesan family of schools: forming Christ-centred pilgrims of hope with kind hearts, questioning minds, a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for justice.

Discerning Disciples is organised into the six 'branches' of the RED, which align with the Catholic Church's liturgical year

Across these branches, pupils encounter Sacred Scripture, deepen their knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and teaching, study prayer, liturgy, and the sacraments, and consider how faith is lived in the world. Through Dialogue and Encounter, they also learn about other faiths and religions, and develop the knowledge, understanding, and dispositions needed for respectful dialogue.

At the heart of Discerning Disciples are the RED's three ways of knowing: understand, discern and respond. Pupils are therefore encouraged not simply to acquire religious knowledge, but to think deeply about what they learn, make connections, consider different perspectives and make thoughtful judgements. In doing so, religious education helps pupils to grow in knowledge, wisdom and understanding and to reflect on how what they learn might shape the way they live.

RE: Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact

Overview of RE:

Below is an overview of which units are taught in each year group, including which strands each unit covers:

Assessment:

There is a 4-yearly cycle of assessment, to enable staff and leaders to monitor and moderate the quality of Religious Education. The assessment focus for this year is The Liturgical Year. The other assessment strands are:

*Scripture

*Living as Christians including Prayer

*The Sacraments

In addition to the focus assessments which are tracked and analysed termly, all children have unit markers in their RE books, which enable teachers to effectively assess children in each unit. In Key Stage 2, children will also self-assess against assessment objectives, to enable them to understand their own progress and achievements in RE. From these assessments, teachers provide a 'best-fit' termly assessment to ensure the frequent assessment and analysis of RE data, as the core subject in our school.