Religious Education
Intent
St John Bosco aims to be a welcoming, caring and happy school, which seeks to follow Jesus' example and embrace our Catholic faith in our everyday life. We enjoy learning and celebrate our achievements as we support each other every day and aim to excel everything we do. We aim to make every member of our school family feel loved, valued and respected. Together in partnership with parents and the wider Church family, we seek to prepare children to live in God’s ways and thrive in the real world.
Our mission statement is that through our faith we Enjoy, Embrace, Excel. St John Bosco himself stated that it was important, ‘To be loved and know that you are loved’ and we aspire for all of our school family to know and feel this message.
Aims
We aim to develop within our children, a trusting, loving and personal relationship with God by introducing them to the mystery of Christ, through His teachings in the Gospel. This, in turn, should enable the children to have a positive attitude towards themselves and their relationship with others.
The aim of R.E. in St. Bosco is to provide for the religious and educational needs of all our children.
This includes:
- Children from supportive Catholic homes.
- Children for whom the school may be their first and perhaps only experience of the Church.
- Children from other Christian traditions.
- Children from other faith backgrounds.
We aim to ensure that:
- Children develop in their knowledge and understanding of the mystery of God, Jesus Christ and the Church, and of the central beliefs which Catholics hold.
- Children develop an awareness of the Catholic faith and an understanding of its impact on personal and social behaviour.
- Children are brought to an understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to develop the traditions of our Catholic faith.
- Positive attitudes towards people of other faiths are encouraged.
- A sense of awe and wonder is nurtured in the children, so as to give a spiritual dimension to their lives.
- There is a deepening knowledge and love of Christ within the Sacraments of the Church.
- Children are given an opportunity to reflect and evaluate on their own attitudes to life and their relationships with others.
- The liturgical year is reflected in the life and activities of the school.
Religious Education Curriculum—Implementation
The objectives of curriculum religious education in St John Bosco are:
- to develop knowledge and understanding of the mystery of God and of Jesus Christ, of the Church, and of the central beliefs which Catholics hold;
- to develop awareness and appreciation of Catholic belief, understanding of its impact on personal and social behaviour and of the vital relationship between faith and life, life and faith;
- to develop appropriate skills: for example, ability to listen; to think critically, spiritually, ethically and theologically; to acquire knowledge and organise it effectively; to make informed judgements;
- to foster appropriate attitudes: for example, respect for truth; respect for the views of others; awareness of the spiritual, of moral responsibility, of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life and especially the challenge of living in a multicultural, multi-faith society.
- 10% of the length of the taught week for each Key Stage of education to be given to RE teaching and learning.
Our approach to teaching RE:
We follow the Come & See programme, which sets out each topic through the headings of Explore, Reveal and Respond. These take four weeks to complete and are broken down as follows:
Explore (ONE week to complete)
This is when we introduce the topic, where the children’s life experience is explored, the question(s) it raises are wondered at, shared, investigated and their significance reflected upon.
Reveal (TWO weeks)
This 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 (ONE week)
This is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. Part of our celebrations and sharing with our school community is fulfilled in End of Topic celebrations for each class.
