Religious Education Intent
The intent of our Religious Education curriculum is to create a Christian ethos of love, allowing each member of our school community to grow in their personal relationship with God and with each other. We aim to deliver a secure, caring and inclusive community in which the Gospel Spirit of love, care and mutual respect permeates every aspect of school life. Through the teaching of Religious Education lessons and Collective Worship, we aim to contribute to the Spiritual development of pupils and teach the children about the belief, values and way of life of Catholic Christianity and other faiths and encourage children to distinguish right from wrong and develop a personal sense of morality. We are fully supported by the Parish in preparing children for Eucharist and Reconciliation, and in the development of Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural education of all children.
In our teaching of Come & See Catholic Primary Religious Education programme, we are always striving for excellence, reflecting the school’s distinctive Catholic character. A key feature of this programme is in the large number of questions included in each unit, nurturing our children’s curiosity. The purpose of these questions is to give pupils the opportunity to investigate, reflect, evaluate and make meaning. In doing so, they will discover more about themselves, their relationships with others, their relationship with the world around them and their relationship with God. Through our Come & See teaching, we also prepare children for citizenship in today’s diverse society and enable them to develop sensitivity to, and respect for others, equip the children with the knowledge, skills and understanding relating to fundamental British values, allowing each child to make a positive contribution to society in the 21st century.
At St. Peter’s we aim to nurture strong relationships built on respect and consideration between school, parents, Parish and the wider community. We promote and encourage faith to be a significant part in every person’s life by continually working together in partnership, including home, school and Parish, following the values of the Gospel as a guide to living life to the full, and providing opportunities for pupils to make links with the local and wider community, e.g. distribution of harvest gifts, fundraising for Nugent Care, CAFOD, St. Rocco’s Hospice, thus working for the ‘common good’.
Come and See Educational Programme
St. Peter’s follows the Come and See programme of Religious Education for Foundation and Key Stages 1 and 2, as recommended by the Archdioceses of Liverpool.
Come and See is developed through three themes which are gradually explored at greater depths: Church, Sacrament and Christian Living.
The process for delivering the topics in ‘Come and See’ has three stages – ‘Explore’, ‘Reveal’ and ‘Respond’.
Explore
‘Explore’ is the introduction to the topic where the children’s life experience is explored. The questions it raises are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected upon.
Reveal
‘Reveal’ is the heart of the programme where knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith is revealed through the Word, in Scripture, Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian Living.
Respond
‘Respond’ is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life.
Come and See Topics
Please click the pdf's below to find out more about what is covered in the different Come and See topics.
Example Come and See Topic Pages
EYFS
In EYFS, the children produce a large class floor book to present their work, rather than having individual books. Their work is also uploaded to Tapestry. EYFS also have a topic page at the beginning of each new section of their floor book. Please see below for an example.
Come and See - Other Faiths
In the Come and See Programme, we also study two none Christian faiths per year. At St. Peter's, we focus on Judaism in the Autumn term and Islam in the Spring term. Please see the PDFs below for more information on what each year group focuses on.
Collective Worship Intent
At St. Peter’s the intent of the daily act of Collective Worship is viewed as an integral and important part of school life. Through this and in the general ethos of the school we seek to promote our mission statement and motto ‘Let your light shine’. It is a time where we come together to share our love of God based on promoting the Catholic Christian values which permeate the ethos of the school. We aim to provide opportunities for all members of the school community to stop activity to:
- pause and to reflect on important issues,
- foster a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty, mystery and power of the natural world,
- build up the sense of group identity, fostering concern for the needs of each other,
- give pupils the experience of being still or silent,
- provide an opportunity for celebrating times of success or joy,
- provide an opportunity for meeting at times of sadness or sorrow,
- provide an opportunity for highlighting and reflecting upon core school values – such as striving to be honest and truthful, trying hard in all things, respecting oneself as well as other people, striving to be fair and just;
- offer the opportunity to mark significant points in the year, such as festivals and school events.
As such, the contributions of staff, pupils, church clergy and other visitors are highly valued in our school.
