Religious Education

We are part of the St Teresa of Avila Parish in Ashford and work closely with our parish priest to develop the education and spiritual welfare of everyone in our school.  

Intent

At St Teresa's School, we acknowledge and understand that Religious Education is a lifelong process and recognises that the primary years are significant in the lasting impact they have upon our children. 

The aims of religious education in St Teresa's Catholic Primary School include the following:

• To create a safe, secure and stimulating learning environment.
• To deepen knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith through prayer and the Gospels.
• Helping to foster pupil’s awareness that our Christian faith is not just a subject for learning, but a complete way of life.
• To promote the spiritual and moral development of the children.
• To lead the children to a living and active faith by helping them to become aware of God’s presence in their lives, to listen to Him and to respond to His invitation to enter into a personal relationship with Him through prayer.
• To give the children the experience of a Christian caring and inclusive community where all members are valued.
• To involve parents/carers in the spiritual development of their children.

Implementation

Religious Education is taught according to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, as required by the school's Trustees. We use 'The Way, The Truth, The Life' scheme of work. This is followed throughout the whole school and covers an extensive range of theological studies. 

RE Curriculum Journey

As well as learning about Catholicism, we believe it is important for our children to learn about other World Faiths as these also make up part of our immediate community. Throughout the year, we have 5 additional 'R.E. Days', each one focusing on a different World Faith - these include Sikhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam & Buddhism.

Everyday the children engage in collective Prayer and Liturgy. Children pray together, sign hymns together, learn together and reflect on aspects of our Faith together. Using the context of both their own and their shared school experiences to deepen their knowledge and understanding. 

We regularly celebrate Mass together as a community and on Sundays throughout the Year. 

Impact

The children of St Teresa's are able to talk about their own faith in a reflective and knowledgeable manner. Through class discussions they are encouraged to ask questions and challenge beliefs, enabling them to justify their own opinions linking their thoughts with their knowledge of the scripture and their own experiences. The continue to demonstrate their learning through their confident to contributions to the liturgy of the school and the parish, the reflective work they produce in their RE book and the shared learning opportunities as evidenced in the RE Big Books. 

RE is assessed like any other core curriculum subject, there is a high expectation for the quality of the work produced.