Religious Education
Introduction
As teachers we should be aware that we are role models for the
children in our care. The sincerity of
our commitment to religious education should manifest itself in all areas of
school life.
Aims
& Objectives
¨
To build a loving relationship with God our father through
prayer, worship and the scriptures.
¨
To nurture, guide and spiritually enrich the children on their
journey in faith.
¨
To encourage the children to develop self-respect, respect for
others and God’s creation.
¨
To foster a living commitment to the Catholic Faith and its
traditions- a responsibility we share with the parents and the parish.
¨
To develop the children’s awareness of their responsibility for
justice and peace in the local and wider community.
¨
To offer each child a secure and caring environment in which
they are encouraged to develop academically, physically, socially and
emotionally to their full potential.
¨
To develop in the children a sense of responsibility for their
actions and enable them to develop an informed conscience and sound moral
judgement.
¨ To
endeavour to achieve high standards in teaching and learning across the RE
curriculum.
¨
To encourage children to respect, recognise and value other
cultures religions and faiths to the multi-cultural society in which they live.
¨
To learn about other faiths (2 per year, 2 weeks for each faith–
always to include Judaism)
Method of Teaching
Teachers will use the method most appropriate to the method of
the particular topic. This could
include,
¨
Use of visual aids.
¨
Questions and answers approach.
¨
Whole class interactive discussion.
¨
Story telling.
¨
Children working in groups to evaluate possible solutions to a
moral issue.
Inclusion
The Sacred Heart School will follow the guidelines for inclusion
set out in the NC.
Curriculum
The religious education programme “Here I Am” is the core of the
RE scheme in Sacred Heart School. A
whole school approach is adopted with all classes exploring fixed topics at the
same time, one each half term following a four year cycle.
The “Here I am” programme is supplemented with Bible stories,
teaching about the liturgical year incorporating major feast days, lives of the
saints, mysteries of the Faith, preparations for the Sacraments of
Reconciliation and First Holy Communion, prayer and worship.
Children are expected to know the traditional prayers of the
church. Every class teacher has the
responsibility to ensure that the Morning and Evening prayers and Graces before
and after meals are said daily with the children.
Pupils will regularly lead Family Mass at Sacred Heart Church at
9:30am. (Ref annual calendar for dates.)
Health & Safety
Candles may only be used under the supervision of a
teacher. Children need to be made aware
of the dangers of naked flames and matches.
ICT
Teachers will use ICT where appropriate to the topic studied.
Assessment in RE
The areas of RE where we will make assessment will be.
¨
The acquisition of knowledge.
¨
The external signs of developing and maturing faith.
¨
The perceptiveness of questions and answers.
¨
At the end of each topic pupils will record their personal
thoughts and new knowledge they have learned during that topic.
Children are assessed at the beginning of the Autumn
term, the middle of the Spring term and at the end of the Summer Term. Staff
are given guidance from the attainment levels for RE.
¨
A tracker is in place for KS2 children to show progression.
¨
6 pupils are being tracked from year 1 to year 6.
Collective Worship Policy
Aims
At
Sacred Heart School we aim to help children to develop a positive self-image
and a balanced understanding of themselves as unique human beings created by a
loving God. To develop an understanding of the need for people to work together
in a caring community, showing respect for the needs and feelings of others.
Objectives
To
enable pupils to: -
¨ To gain
a knowledge and understanding of our Catholic heritage
¨ Feel
valued and respected
¨ Become
aware of their feelings
¨ Express
their thoughts, feelings and emotions
¨ Appreciated
the gifts and needs of themselves and others
¨ Come to
terms with feelings and emotions
¨ Develop
an appreciation of different relationships
¨ Explore
what it means to belong to a group / community
¨ Grow in
understanding of the feelings and ideas of others
¨ Identify
similarities and differences between people
¨ Know
about the seasons of the Church Year and special feast days
¨ Ask
fundamental questions
¨ To
develop an “open mind”
¨ To
provide a stimulating, happy, secure environment
¨ To
provide a calm and relaxed atmosphere
¨ To sit
quietly and listen carefully
¨ To
celebrate good work, news and special occasions
Responsibilities
It is
the responsibility of all staff to ensure that a daily act of worship is
carried out.
The
SMT/ RE Co-ordintor will be responsible for arranging
visitors to attend school for collective worship as and when appropriate. Each
class teacher will be responsible for planning and resourcing at least one
class presentation per year.
Timings
Periods
of collective worship are held at least twice per week for all children. These
periods are planned around a timetable but may vary during the course of the
day. They are between 15 - 30 minutes in duration.
FDS /
KS1 Collective Worship
Hymn
Practice (FD St & Yr 1 / Y2 – Y6)
Whole School
Collective Worship
KS2
Collective Worship (pm)
Structure / Organisation
Prior
to a period of collective worship, pupil monitors will prepare the hall i.e.
set out chairs, overhead projector and music. The children will enter the hall
in a quiet and orderly fashion whilst music is played. Class candles will be
brought to the hall and lit when all classes are present. They will sit in
their class groups and teachers will assist in maintaining a quiet and orderly
atmosphere within the hall. The children will respond to a general greeting to
all those in attendance.
Collective worship will
always contain one or more hymns or prayers.
Birthdays
and special events will be celebrated in KS1. Certificates may be given out for
academic or sporting achievements. The children are expected to leave the hall
in a quiet and orderly fashion whilst the music is played.
Content
The
content of our collective worship will be wholly or mainly made up of
“Christian worship” but will always be sensitive to other faiths and the need
to encourage tolerance and to learn of other traditions. We will continue to
endeavour to form links with other faith groups.
The
content of collective worship will vary but may include: -
¨ Visits
from the Parish Priest and other visitors
¨ Presentation
by class / teams
¨ Stories
from the Bible & stories with a meaning / moral
¨ Role
play / drama
¨ Celebrations
of good work
¨ Devotions
– e.g. Rosary
¨ Celebrations
of special occasions and festivals – e.g. Holy Souls, Advent, Lent, Easter.
Planning
Planning
for collective worship will be made at the beginning of the year and staff will
be made aware of dates – see staff notice board.
The
Head Teacher will be responsible for the whole school collective worship. In her
absence the Deputy will take on this responsibility.
Exclusions
All
children will be expected to partake in periods of collective worship.
Parental Involvement
On some
occasions e.g. Harvest Festival, Christmas, Leaver’s Celebration, Class
Presentations etc parents are invited to join us.
Policy for Prayer and Worship
Prayer and worship forms a major part of the spiritual and moral
development of pupils of Sacred Heart Primary School. Prayer and worship in
many forms is the central core of daily life and education at Sacred Heart
Primary School. It provides a means of developing an appreciation that goes
beyond the material world, fostering concern for others and providing a forum
for exploring shared values.
Prayer
¨ All
pupils participate in collective class prayers at the beginning and end of each
day. Prayers are also said before and after lunch.
¨ There
are key stage prayers in key stage assembly each week, and also collective
school prayers in the weekly whole school assembly, which can be a mix of
formal and informal prayer.
¨ Pupils
are taught to pray collectively from their entry to Nursery.
¨ Pupils
are encouraged to compose their own prayers and to pray for a wide range of
needs; their own, their family, school, parish and the wider community, both
locally and throughout the world.
¨ Pupils
are actively encouraged to compose their own bidding prayers for the school and
parish family masses that they celebrate and lead.
¨ Prayer
through singing is a vital aspect of prayer at Sacred Heart School.
Worship
Sacred Heart School actively
worships in many ways.
¨ Feast
Days and Liturgical Seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost) are celebrated in collective acts of worship
wherever possible, both within the school and the parish church.
¨ Pupils
take an active part in shaping the worship at Sacred Heart School.
¨ Worship
takes many forms - Key stage assemblies, whole school assemblies, harvest
festivals, prayer, drama, dance, music, readings, poetry, nativity plays, carol
concerts, school
and family masses.
¨ Pupils
are taught to show respect and care during acts of worship.
¨ Pupils
are taught the sung Mass.
¨ Pupils
become familiar with the language and silence common to our many forms of
collective worship.
¨ Collective
worship in Sacred Heart Primary School offers pupils a shared experience and
provides an opportunity to participate in humanity’s shared search for God. In
so doing Sacred Heart Primary School aims to build a caring community in and
beyond school.
¨ Varied
worship offers Sacred Heart pupils an opportunity for co-operation and the
fostering of strong relationships between Sacred Heart School and parish.
¨ As with
the parish of Sacred Heart so it is with Sacred Heart School that we view true
and full eucumenism as a central part of our identity
and integrity.
¨ Worship
provides an opportunity for pupils to gain an awareness of worship practices of
faiths other than their own and to respect other faiths.
¨ We
regularly invite other faith leaders to visit the school and share their faith
and belief with us. In this way we hope to foster a deeper understanding and
awareness of other faiths.
¨ Pupils
are given the opportunity to visit places of worship of other faiths.
Other
Faiths Fortnight - Islam