Intent

At St Joseph's, Religious Education is at the heart of our curriculum and of our identity as a Catholic school. It is the subject that gives meaning to everything else we do, shaping how we learn, how we pray and how we treat one another. At the centre of all school life lies our aim to help children deepen their faith and grow in the love of God. Our intent is to provide a rich, rigorous and inclusive RE curriculum from EYFS to Year 6 that helps every child come to know Jesus Christ, understand the teachings of the Catholic Church and become the best version of themselves.
We follow the Religious Education Directory (RED), To Know You More Clearly, issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. We teach it through Lighting the Path, a scripture-centred programme which takes its name from Psalm 119. Through it, children journey through the great story of the Bible and discover how that story is lived out in the beliefs, worship and actions of Catholics around the world today.
Our curriculum aims to develop children who are religiously literate and who can think theologically, spiritually and critically. Through the four RED ways of knowing (Hear, Believe, Celebrate and Live) children learn to read and understand Scripture, explore what the Church believes, experience how Catholics pray and celebrate, and consider how faith shapes the way we live. As a school serving a diverse community in Greenwich, we also want our pupils to learn about and respect the beliefs of others, so that they can take part in thoughtful, respectful dialogue in the world beyond school.
Our RE curriculum is the primary vehicle for living out our school values, which were written with our children:

• Faith: RE helps children grow in trust, confidence and belief in themselves, in others and in God, and gives them the words and space to pray.
• Compassion: Through the life and teaching of Jesus, children learn to care about and understand the needs of others, and to respond with love.
• Respect: By encountering Scripture and learning about other faiths, children learn to value every person as made in the image and likeness of God.
• Community: Through Mass, liturgy and our parish links, children experience belonging to the family of the Church.
• Responsibility: Catholic Social Teaching challenges children to make good choices and to take action for justice and for the care of our common home.
• Aspiration: Like St Joseph, our patron, children are encouraged to listen to God's call and aim high in all they do.

Implementation

RE is given at least 10% of curriculum time in every year group, reflecting its place at the centre of our curriculum. Lighting the Path is taught from EYFS to Year 6 and is organised into six branches that follow the liturgical year of the Church, one for each half term:

• Autumn 1: Creation and Covenant
• Autumn 2: Prophecy and Promise
• Spring 1: Galilee to Jerusalem
• Spring 2: Desert to Garden
• Summer 1: To the Ends of the Earth
• Summer 2: Dialogue and Encounter

The curriculum is a spiral: each year children return to the same six branches and build on what they learned the year before, so their knowledge of Scripture and Church teaching deepens as they move through the school. In EYFS, children begin by exploring stories of God's love, their own experiences and special times of celebration. In Key Stages 1 and 2, they move from knowing and retelling key Bible stories to interpreting texts, making connections between Scripture, belief and worship, and explaining how faith makes a difference to people's lives. Through the Dialogue and Encounter branch, children learn about Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism, developing respect and understanding for their neighbours.
Our classroom RE is supported by a strong daily experience of prayer and liturgy. We use Ten Ten resources for Collective Worship and Prayer and Liturgy, helping children to gather, listen to the Word of God and respond in ways that are age-appropriate and meaningful. We also use Ten Ten's Life to the Full programme for Relationships, Sex and Health Education, which is rooted in the Catholic understanding that each of us is created and loved by God.
Children lead and take part in worship across the school week, including our Monday Gospel assembly, the Wednesday Word, class prayer times and celebrations of the Church's seasons such as Advent, Lent and Easter. Our Chaplaincy Team of Key Stage 2 pupils, supported by our RE Lead, Judith Harvey, and the Headteacher, play a vital role in this, leading prayer, reading at Mass, promoting our charity work and speaking to visitors about RE.
Parish and Community Links
Our RE is not confined to the classroom. We have a close and living relationship with our parish, St Joseph's Church, where our children serve and take part in weekly Mass and celebrate the key feasts of the Church year. Our parish priest, Father Kenneth, visits the school regularly to celebrate Mass, lead worship and support our children's spiritual growth. We work in partnership with
parents and carers, sharing what children are learning so that faith can be nurtured at home, at school and in the parish together, especially as children prepare for the sacraments.

Impact

We measure the impact of our RE curriculum through regular assessment against the RED expected outcomes, book looks, pupil voice, learning walks and monitoring by our RE Lead, Judith Harvey, and our governors.
By the end of Year 6, our pupils will:

• Have a secure knowledge of the Bible's big story and the key beliefs, worship and practices of the Catholic Church;
• Be able to read, interpret and discuss Scripture thoughtfully, and use religious vocabulary with confidence;
• Be able to plan and lead prayer and liturgy, and understand the meaning of the Mass and the Church's seasons;
• Understand how faith shapes the choices people make, and apply Gospel values and Catholic Social Teaching to their own lives;
• Be able to talk respectfully and knowledgeably about other faiths and worldviews, and hold well-informed conversations about religion and belief.
• Above all, we hope our children leave St Joseph's knowing that they are loved by God, living our values of aspiration, community, compassion, faith, respect and responsibility, and ready to be a light in the world.

Right of Withdrawal

As a Catholic school, RE is central to our life and mission. However, we respect that parents and carers have the legal right to withdraw their child from all or part of Religious Education and Collective Worship. If you are considering this, please speak to the Headteacher so we can share our curriculum with you and discuss how your child's needs can best be met.