Rationale

At St. Anthony’s, Religious Education lies at the heart of our school life and mission. As a Roman Catholic community, we know that every child is created and loved by God, called to grow in wisdom, faith, and service in order to live out our vocation. RE enables our pupils to deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith, to encounter Christ, and to reflect on what it means to live as disciples in today’s world, discerning how they can help to build the kingdom of God on earth.

Our RE curriculum supports pupils in exploring their identity, purpose, and place in God’s creation. It helps them make sense of the world around them through the lens of Gospel values (Catholic School’s Pupil Profile), Catholic teaching, and the example of Jesus. RE fosters respect for the dignity of every person and encourages pupils to build loving and positive relationships with others.

As with all curriculum areas, through RE, pupils further develop their understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and how these principles—such as human dignity, the common good, solidarity, stewardship, and care for the poor—shape the way we live, love, learn, and look after one another. RE nurtures attitudes of curiosity, compassion, gratitude, integrity, and hope. It invites pupils to think deeply, act justly, and grow spiritually, morally, culturally and socially.

Intent

The intent of our RE curriculum is to ensure that all pupils gain a secure knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith and develop the skills needed to reflect on, articulate, and live out their beliefs. We aim for pupils to:

• Know and understand key teachings of the Church, scripture, liturgy, prayer, and the Sacraments.
• Develop the ability to think theologically, reflect spiritually, and respond personally to God’s invitation.
• Grow in moral reasoning, inspired by Catholic Social Teaching and the life of Jesus.
• Recognise their role in building a just and loving world.

Our curriculum is structured and sequenced using the Birmingham Diocese strategy Learning and Growing as the People of God, with clear progression from EYFS to Year 6 in biblical knowledge, key doctrine, liturgical understanding, and application to life. This foundation will support our smooth transition to the diocesan RED curriculum from September 2026.

By the end of primary school, pupils will have developed the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to participate fully in the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church, to ask meaningful questions about faith, and to develop a lifelong love of learning in RE. Through consistent teaching of the National Age-Related Standards, pupils learn ‘about’ religion, ‘from’ religion skills in analysis and evaluation.

We align all that we do in RE to guidance provided by the Birmingham Diocesan Education Service, who are committed to support us to ‘forming Christ-centred pilgrims of hope with kind hearts, questioning minds, a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for justice.’

Outside of RE lessons, pupils also explore and appreciate the beliefs and practices of other world religions in order to enhance their cultural capital and become well-educated, responsible citizens who live out the British Values.

Implementation

RE is taught as a core subject for at least 10% of curriculum time, following the diocesan curriculum strategy. Lessons are planned with a clear sequence of learning that includes:

• Direct teaching of scripture, doctrine, and liturgy, using high-quality resources from the diocese.
• Enquiry and discussion, encouraging pupils to wonder, question, and explore big ideas of faith.
• Reflection and prayer, enabling personal and collective response.
• Creative tasks such as art, drama, writing, role-play, and music to deepen understanding.
• Application to life, explicitly linking learning to Catholic Social Teaching and everyday choices.
• Analysis and evaluation (KS2), where pupils critically explore theological concepts, compare viewpoints, interpret scripture with increasing depth, and evaluate how beliefs influence choices, behaviour, and the Christian mission in the world.

Teachers use a variety of resources, including scripture, artwork, liturgical artefacts, technology, online diocesan materials, and pupil-friendly theological texts. Cross-curricular links are woven throughout, particularly with English, PSHE/RHE, history, art, music, and collective worship (prayer and liturgy).

We celebrate the liturgical year through collective worship, Mass, assemblies, celebrations of the word, feast days, sacramental preparation, and charitable outreach, helping pupils connect their learning with lived faith.

 

 

Impact

By the end of each key stage, pupils demonstrate a deepening knowledge of scripture, Church teaching, sacraments, and the liturgical year. They can explain key beliefs, make connections between faith and life, and express their ideas with confidence and reverence.

Through RE, pupils grow in the virtues promoted by the Catholic Schools’ Pupil Profile—such as being compassionate, truthful, eloquent, learned, hopeful, and wise. They understand their responsibility as children of God to act with justice, kindness, and courage.

Pupils leave St. Anthony’s spiritually aware, morally grounded, and able to engage thoughtfully with religious and ethical questions. They are well prepared for future learning, for active participation in parish and community life, and for living out their Christian vocation in the world.

Assessment

We use the Birmingham Diocesan RE Assessment Strategy and national expectations to monitor and track progress. Assessment is both formative and summative.

• Prior knowledge is checked through discussion, retrieval activities, questioning, and recap tasks.
• Ongoing assessment takes place through teacher observations, written work, creative responses, dialogue, and reflection activities.
• End-of-unit assessments (as required by the diocese) provide a summative judgement of pupils’ understanding.
• Diocesan descriptors help teachers judge if pupils are working at, above, or towards age-related expectations.
• Progress is monitored to ensure all pupils achieve well; gaps are addressed through targeted support, feedback, and re-teaching.
• Pupils demonstrate learning through written outcomes, artwork, presentations, liturgical participation, and theological discussion.

Celebration of learning occurs through class displays, worship, assemblies, and parish links.

SEND Support Statement

All pupils, including those with SEND, are valued, included, and supported to achieve success in RE. We deliver quality-first teaching, ensuring that learning is accessible and ambitious for every child.

Adaptations may include:

• Scaffolded tasks, pictorial supports, vocabulary banks, and sentence starters.
• Use of visual and concrete resources, sequencing frames, and simplified scripture texts.
• Additional adult support for discussion, recording, or reflection.
• Opportunities for practical, artistic, or verbal responses rather than solely written tasks.
• Chunked instructions and personalised questioning to aid understanding.
• Pre-teaching or revisiting key concepts to build confidence.

We maintain high expectations for all pupils, ensuring they can fully participate in the RE curriculum, reflect on their faith, and grow spiritually and morally in line with our Catholic mission.