Religious Education

Core Purpose of Catholic Schools

Catholic schools, with RE at their core, exist to "help parents, priests and teachers to hand on the Deposit of Faith in its fullness to a new generation of young people so that they may come to understand the richness of the Catholic faith, and thereby be drawn into a deeper communion with Christ in his Church." (Religious Education Curriculum Directory pvii). With this as our primary aim, we work to raise pupils' awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities to respect and understand them, upholding British Values.

Discerning Disciples

At Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, we follow Discerning Disciples, the Religious Education curriculum for Catholic primary schools within the Archdiocese of Birmingham. The curriculum is rooted in the Religious Education Directory, To Know You More Clearly, and supports pupils from EYFS through to Year 6 in developing their knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, growing in their relationship with God and learning how to live out the Gospel values in their daily lives.

The curriculum is organised into six branches across the academic year:

Creation and Covenant

Prophecy and Promise

Galilee to Jerusalem

Desert to Garden

To the Ends of the Earth

Dialogue and Encounter.

Throughout their learning, children explore Scripture and Catholic teaching through the four knowledge lenses of Hear, Believe, Celebrate and Live. They are also encouraged to Understand, Discern and Respond, enabling them not only to develop secure religious knowledge but also to reflect deeply, make connections and consider how their faith calls them to respond to the world around them.

Through Discerning Disciples, we aim to nurture knowledgeable, thoughtful and compassionate young people who can confidently articulate their faith and put it into action.

Why do Catholic schools teach about other religions? 

Teaching about other religions is important for several reasons:
1.    Learning about the religion and cultures of those who do not share the Catholic faith is one of how Catholic schools embody the call to love one’s neighbour. As the Church says, “The love for all men and women is necessarily also a love for their culture. Catholic schools are, by their very vocation, intercultural.” (Congregation for Catholic Education p61).
2.    It is required by the Bishops, who state that the Catholic nature of our schools entails “a willingness… to try to understand better the religion of one’s neighbours and to experience something of their religious life and culture.” (Catholic Bishops' Conference p3).
3.    Many of the children in Catholic schools are practising members of other faiths, and our schools need to be places of hospitality for these children. It is an act of respect and courtesy that our curriculum helps them to reflect on the nature of their own religious identity. As the Church says, “All children and young people [including those of other faiths in our Catholic schools] must have the same possibilities for arriving at the knowledge of their religion as well as of elements that characterise other religions.” (Congregation for Catholic Education) 
4.    It prepares the pupils in our Catholic schools for life in modern Britain, giving them an understanding of others' beliefs. This, in turn, will improve social cohesion and contribute to the common good by increasing mutual respect between people of different religions.

In addition to following the Diocesan strategy, each class learns about a specific faith and has the opportunity to visit other places of worship.

Other Religions

Each KS2 class studies a different world religion as part of the RE curriculum. This helps pupils understand themselves and others, promoting their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.