Religious Education Statement of Intent

Mission Statement

Joyfully, we at St Augustine's Catholic Primary School celebrate our love for God, our love for ourselves and our love for each other as we play, learn and pray together.

Vision

To be the best we can be.

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Intent

Religious Education is at the heart of our curriculum and school life at St Augustine’s. It shapes our identity as a Catholic community and supports the formation of children who are spiritually aware, morally grounded and socially responsible.

Our intent is to:

• Develop children’s religious literacy, enabling them to understand and articulate the richness of the Catholic faith.
• Provide opportunities for spiritual reflection, personal encounter with Christ and meaningful religious experiences.
• Foster a strong sense of belonging, rooted in Gospel values and Catholic Social Teaching.
• Encourage children to be active participants in RE lessons, whole school worship, Masses and celebrations.
• Welcome children of all faith backgrounds, ensuring that every pupil is included and supported in becoming religiously literate in the context of Catholic teaching and tradition.

We are guided by the Religious Education Directory (RED), titled To Know You More Clearly, which provides a national framework for Catholic schools in England and Wales. It supports the transmission of the faith in its fullness and helps children grow in communion with Christ and His Church.

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Implementation

At St Augustine’s, RE is taught for 10% of the weekly timetable, in line with the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales. This equates to:

• 2¼ hours per week in Key Stage 1
• 2½ hours per week in Key Stage 2

The RED curriculum is now fully implemented across all year groups, with Years 3 and 4 joining this academic year. The RED is designed as a spiral curriculum, meaning children revisit key themes and concepts each year, allowing them to strengthen their knowledge, deepen their understanding and grow in faith as they progress through the school.

RE lessons are delivered through a variety of approaches, including Godly Play sessions, which invite children into a space of awe and wonder. These sessions help children to explore Scripture and Church traditions in a creative, reflective and spiritually rich way, encouraging personal connection and deeper engagement.

Curriculum Branches

The RED curriculum is structured around six curriculum branches, each aligned with the Liturgical Year and revisited annually:

1. Creation and Covenant – Encounter the God who creates and calls all people.
2. Prophecy and Promise – Explore the hope and anticipation of the Messiah during Advent.
3. Galilee to Jerusalem – Experience the ministry of Jesus through parables, miracles and teachings.
4. Desert to Garden – Reflect on Lent and Holy Week, culminating in the Resurrection.
5. To the Ends of the Earth – Discover the birth of the Church through Pentecost and the early Christian community.
6. Dialogue and Encounter – Learn how Christians engage with people of other faiths, promoting peace, justice and the common good.

Other worldviews are explored within the Dialogue and Encounter branch, ensuring children develop respect and understanding for all.

Knowledge Lenses

Each branch is explored through four knowledge lenses:

• Hear – Engage with Scripture and Church teaching.
• Believe – Understand and articulate key beliefs.
• Live – Apply faith to daily life and moral choices.
• Celebrate – Participate in prayer, liturgy and sacramental life.

Ways of Knowing

Children develop skills through three ways of knowing:

• Understand – Grasp religious concepts and theological ideas.
• Discern – Reflect critically and interpret meaning.
• Respond – Express personal faith and make informed moral decisions.

Impact

Religious Education at St Augustine’s supports children in becoming faith-filled individuals who live out Gospel values and make a positive difference in the world. Through their learning, children will:

• Make progress each year in their understanding of key religious concepts and teachings.

• Reflect on their learning, deepening their engagement with Scripture, Church teaching and Catholic life.

• Make connections between Jesus’ teachings and their own lives, growing as responsible young Catholics.
• Explore and apply the principles of Catholic Social Teaching in their daily choices.
• Develop knowledge of other religious traditions, fostering respect and understanding.

Assessment

Assessment in RE is ongoing and recorded termly, based on the intended learning outcomes. Children are supported to demonstrate their understanding through discussion, written work, and creative responses.

 

^{St. Augustine's Day outdoor mass}

PRAYER AND WORSHIP

“Joyfully we at St Augustine’s Catholic School, celebrate our love for God, our love for ourselves and our love for each other as we play, learn and pray together.”

Our Vision

To be the best we can be.

Prayer and Worship: The Heart of Our School

At St Augustine’s, prayer and worship are at the very heart of our daily life. We believe that every child can encounter Jesus Christ each day, and this begins with prayer, radiating out to all aspects of school life.

We nurture a genuine life of prayer nourished by the sacraments. Our worship celebrates God’s presence and gives glory, honour, praise and thanks to Him. It is our loving response to His invitation to enter into relationship with Him.

How We Worship

Daily Prayer: Morning, lunchtime grace and end-of-day reflection/prayer.

 Weekly Gatherings:

o Monday: KS2 & KS1 Gospel Worship

o Tuesday: KS2 Worship Through Song

o Wednesday: Class-based Prayer & Worship

o Thursday: KS1 Worship Through Song

o Friday: Whole School Assembly (child-led)

Our children experience a rich variety of worship forms — celebration, singing, formal and informal prayer, and shared moments of silence and stillness.

The Liturgical Year

Children develop their understanding of the Church’s liturgical seasons, rites and symbols. They see these reflected in our prayer themes and the changing colours of our cloths throughout the year.

We are committed to encouraging our children to participate fully in prayer and liturgy, to allow them to experience the riches of our liturgical life.

              

 

 

         

     

LIVING OUT FAITH

We run the Faith in Action club for our Year 6 learners who have a chance to deepen their relationship with God. Children participate in discussion during reflection points; they celebrate each reflection point in a special liturgy, and plan projects and fundraising that they would like to implement as part of their faith in action journey. They receive their pin-level award at the end of the programme.

Diocesan Website

Home | Arundel & Brighton Diocese (abdiocese.org.uk)

Diocesan Education Services

Education Service (abdiocese.org.uk)

Our Faith in Action Group

We always learn so much when we visit Wintershall

• Right of Withdrawal.pdf

Helping at Home with RE

Please follow this link to find out about learning that is happening across the school each term as we follow Come and See, the prayers your child will need to know and information about special days in our liturgical calendar.

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School - Religious Education (secure-dbprimary.com)