Curriculum Intent

We are a Catholic school and we are committed to the Catholic Faith, recognising and valuing every individual as special and unique in the image and likeness of God. Religious Education at St. Joseph’ respects and promotes each child’s innate capacity for wonder, awe, reverence and spirituality. Our Religious Education curriculum leads our children to aspire not to have more, but to be more; children are taught about God’s love; they learn about their Christian responsibilities; children are provided with experiences of church, Catholic and Christian traditions, as well as being taught to be respectful and understanding of people and traditions from other faith backgrounds. Through Religious Education our children learn about their unique place within the home, school and parish community.

At the heart of Catholic education lies the Christian vision of the human person. This vision is expressed and explored in religious education. Therefore, we believe that religious education is never simply one subject among many, but the foundation of the entire educational process.

• We believe Religious Education is, then, the core subject in a Catholic school.
• Religious education contributes to evangelisation and catechesis but its specific contribution to the Catholic Life of the school is primarily educational and so Religious Education will be planned, taught, assessed and monitored with the same rigour as other curriculum subjects.
• We understand Religious Education to be the systematic study of the mystery of God and of Jesus Christ, of the Church, and of the central beliefs which Catholics hold.

‘The outcome of Religious Education is religiously literate young people who have the knowledge, understanding and skills – appropriate to their age and capacity – to think spiritually, ethically and theologically, and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.’

• to promote knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and life

• to promote knowledge and understanding of the response of faith to the ultimate questions about human life, its origin and purpose

• to promote the skills required to engage in examination of and reflection upon religious belief and practice

Curriculum time allocation

In line with Bishops’ Conference recommendations, 10% of curriculum time is allocated to Religious Education. This does not include Collective Worship.

To fulfil the above aims and to address the 4 areas of study outlined in the Curriculum Directory – Revelation, Church, Celebration and Life in Christ - The Way, the Truth and the Life is used as recommended by the Diocese.

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Collective Worship

Collective worship may be led by an adult or pupils within the class and may take place anywhere in the school including classrooms, the school hall and the prayer garden.

Acts of worship are a simple process where reflection upon our relationship with God is essential.

We aim to:

• To develop an awareness and understanding of the presence of God in each individual child’s life and to encourage a personal response to that presence
• To allow each child to develop their conscience and make sound moral judgements based on commitment to following Christ
• To offer opportunities to deepen their faith and foster attitudes of care and respect for each other
• To live, experience and understand the Liturgical life of the Church through the Liturgical Year together with Solemnities and Feast days
• To promote sacramental life of Christian families and to encourage parents to take an active part in the preparation of their children for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation
• To foster school-parish links to ensure that our children remain exposed and committed to the Catholic faith experiencing liturgy and worship beyond and realms of the school curriculum
• To enable each child to participate and respond to liturgy and worship

Teaching other faiths:

St. Joseph's lives in a community and world that is multi-faith and multicultural. In accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church, we teach children about other faiths in order to help them understand and respect them.