Religious Education

Subject Statement of Intent Religious Education Holy Rosary RC Primary School is a Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided School. It is part of a network of schools provided by the Salford Diocese and maintained by Oldham Local Authority. At Holy Rosary we work extremely closely with the catholic family of schools Oldham schools, this family is called CFOS (Catholic Federation of Oldham Schools). We believe that the strong Catholic links to the Diocese and CFOS are an extremely important way of supporting and developing our Catholic family.
	The school was built by and is supported by practising Catholics. At Holy Rosary we believe that the strong Catholic links to the Diocese and CFOS are an extremely important way of supporting and developing our Catholic family.
At Holy Rosary RC Primary School, we believe that Religious Education (RE) is a vital component of our curriculum, reflecting our commitment to fostering a deep understanding of faith, spirituality, and moral values in our children. As a Roman Catholic school, we aim to nurture the spiritual growth of each child, helping them to develop a personal relationship with God and a strong sense of community. At Holy Rosary we are all God’s missionary disciples with Jesus at the heart of all that we do. Our vision for RE is rooted in our Catholic ethos, where we promote the values of Jesus Christ through our teaching and actions. We strive to create an inclusive environment where pupils of all backgrounds can explore their faith and the beliefs of others, fostering respect and understanding within our diverse community.

We aim for all children to: 

• Ensure that everybody feels welcomed and valued and that children share this welcome with others.
• Help children understand that God is always with them and that they are all part of one family;
• Take inspiration from the Gospel teachings and to aspire not to have more, but to be more;
• Teach children about their Christian responsibilities;
• Provide children with experiences of Catholic and Christian traditions, as well as being taught to be respectful and understanding of people and traditions from other faith backgrounds.

RE is taught discretely for 10% of the timetable - 2 ¾ hours a week. The RE curriculum   is extremely important and as such is given high importance in the weekly timetable. The curriculum ensures that the children grow in faith and belief. It helps them to understand and interpret their faith for themselves.

Lectio Divina is part of RE teachings, ensuring that all children are given the opportunity to explore scripture during a theme. 

Throughout the year, children are given the opportunity to explore some of other world religions: Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam, fostering a broader understanding of faith and traditions.

Although RE is taught discretely through RE sessions it is also taught through the ethos and values of everyday school life, including prayer and worship.

Prayer and reflection are integral to our school life and we ensure that all children are given the opportunity to take part in daily Prayer, Celebration of the Word, Assemblies and Masses. We celebrate important religious celebrations through school masses and special assemblies, and ensure that children understand why these celebrations are important. Each half term, prayer station days are held exploring prayer through different activities. Each prayer station day is planned around a different theme.

At Holy Rosary we support our Year 3 children on their spiritual journey. They are supported, through school, as they prepare for their reconciliation and First Holy Communion. Through this preparation children continue on their spiritual journey and develop into stronger more confident Catholics.           

At Holy Rosary the spiritual and moral wellbeing of all stakeholders is extremely important, with the ethos, specific teaching as well as specific theme days supporting this. We enjoy celebrations and reflection days in which families are invited. These are a really important way of showing our children that they are supported at home as well as at school.

What we teach in RE across the school – Progression Grid

Here we have mapped out the main focus for Each group and how this falls within the main key concepts explored across the year.

When we teach RE throughout the year

The termly breakdown shows the time spent exploring key concepts and how we integrate blocks of time for deeper thinking in World Religions.  This works alongside our weekly  Big Questions.

Prayer and Liturgy Timetable 

Children focus on the daily aspects here to ensure a breadth of opportunities for prayer.

Details related to prayer can be found on our Prayer and Liturgy page.

Godly Play

	In addition to our RE curriculum detailed above, our children also engage in "Godly Play".  Godly play is a tried and tested approach, using symbols and objects as well as words.  It uses a values process, openness and discovery and encourages children to make meaning for themselves.
This is delivered by a member of the Salvation Army and it invites the children to become involved in stories whilst encouraging them to connect with personal experience.

There is no formal assessment of Godly play but notes and photographs can be taken for use in other sessions,

Key Knowledge

Click the files below to see the key knowledge for each key phase.

Assessment

RE is assessed and recorded on our tracking system – insight.  Teachers assess children throughout each unit of work and use our marking and feedback policy to ensure they have a clear understanding of children’s achievements.

All children at Holy Rosary are assessed from Nursery to Year 6.

Children are assessed as:

– Working Towards – they are not quite age-related but are working towards the required statements 

– Expected –  children are working at the expected level for their age

– Above – Children show  good skills, knowledge, and understanding and can apply their learning

– Greater Depth – skills, knowledge and understanding are applied naturally without prompting