Our journey at St Mary’s has been eventful over the last few years. Not only with the pandemic but also with our own personal loss of school with a fire in 2020. Like the Bible has a structured way to understand the grand narrative of Scripture is the four big acts of: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration. This is like our journey. The school left the site in 2002 from the playground being the church’s garden to the Broadway site that was given to the school from the Sisters of Mercy many years prior. The fall being that of the tragic fire. Redemption and Restoration comes of this beautiful new school building that has been a long thought out, child centred building and the first green school in the UK. Explicitly showing Stewardship and Common Good two of the seven Catholic Social Teaching themes. We truly are the phoenix rising from the ashes.
Learning in R.E is at the core of our curriculum and we ensure that the Bishop’s directive is followed in allocating 10% of curriculum time to teaching of Religious Education.
At St. Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy part of the St. Ralph Sherwin Trust, Religious Education is seen and as a special and core subject. We start our learning week with R.E as it sets the catholic ethos for the week. It brings us back to our grounding of faith. Children take great pride in their R.E books and strive to achieve in R.E lessons. We support and challenge children in their learning, children are given the opportunity to reflect on their work and are supported in evaluating how they can make progress, whatever their starting points. R.E lessons are seen as important, unique and enjoyable by our children, who relish the opportunity to learn about the mystery of faith whilst being given time for reflection, wonder and prayer. Children at St Mary’s are developing excellent knowledge and understanding and skills in their learning of R.E. They reflect spiritual ethically, theologically as a consequence they are aware of the demands of everyday life.
We follow the ‘Come and See’ syllabus for RE as in all Catholic schools across the Nottingham Diocese. The staff and governors strive to nurture the seeds of faith in our children and their families and to support families, staff and parish in building a community of faith in which the young can grow socially, emotionally, physically, academically and spiritually. The child friendly material provided within Come and See allows children to explore the teachings of the Catholic church through the use of age appropriate resources and activities.
Teachers create exciting, memorable lessons, based on the Come and See scheme of learning. Each year group has their own list of nine topics to cover throughout the academic year, all linked by a central theme that is based on a sacrament or linking to the church’s liturgical year. The topics, although different in each year group, all explore the relevant theme at an appropriate level and ensure clear, comprehensive and systematic progression across the year groups.
When teaching ‘Come and See’ we adhere to End of Year Expectations. The End of Year Expectations are linked to specific ‘Driver Words’ for each attainment target and year group. These expectations and driver words are set out by the Diocese and are used to inform our planning and delivery of lessons. The End of Year Expectations are split into three strands: Attainment Target 1, 2 and 3. We also use duel coding symbols to represent the assessment response of a Head, Heart and Cloud. The Head represents what we learn (religious knowledge), the Heart of how we live out what we have learnt (feelings and beliefs) and finally the Cloud is what we wonder and our questions around religion, beliefs and faith. The delivery of each ‘Come and See’ topic is taught in three parts, Explore, Reveal and Respond. Using this structure enables the children to develop their knowledge, understanding, skills and fostering of attitudes.
Each lesson begins with a period of quiet prayer and reflection which we call the ‘Gather’, with a candle being lit. This is to remind us that, although still a lesson, it is a special lesson that is different to every other as we are developing our faith and putting ourselves in the presence of God. Before any new teaching begins with a retrieval activity will be undertaken, in line with expectations for other subject areas.
Each year group from Foundation 1 to year 6 have their own list of focus topics to consider throughout the academic year. The topic will coincide with the church calendar however, the depth in which the topic is explored is dependent upon the respective age of the child. For example, during Lent, whilst all children will learn about the plight of Christ, our Early Years children will consider the importance of growing and new life; Key Stage 1 children explore the effect of change and opportunities, with Key Stage 2 children considering the importance of self-discipline, sacrifice, death and new life.
At the heart of the programme is the mystery of God’s self-revelation of love through Jesus Christ. Come and See gives pupils the opportunity to explore the mystery of faith through Scripture and Tradition.
At St Mary’s school we pride ourselves in sharing God’s love to helping our community to learn to grow and to make a difference. Empowering the children of our school, the next generation to be the best that they can be.
Emma Naylor
R.E Lead
