Religious Education

Religious Education Department Curriculum Intent

The overriding ambition of our RE curriculum is to support the school's vision of enabling every child to achieve more than they think they are capable of achieving – a vision that is at the heart of everything we do as a school. We see this as reflecting the words of Jesus, “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10.

The outcome of Religious Education at Sacred Heart is:

religiously literate and consciously engaged young people who have the knowledge, understanding, and skills – appropriate to their age and capacity – to reflect spiritually, and think ethically and theologically, and who recognise the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.

Religious Education Curriculum Directory 2023

"Students achieve exceptional outcomes in religious education.... Students wholeheartedly enjoy religious education and show a deep appreciation for their teachers for how they make their learning relevant, meaningful and relatable to their own lives...Students are exceedingly grateful for all that their religious education teachers do for them; the unconditional support they receive is held in high esteem."

Catholic Schools Inspection 2024

We therefore seek:

to engage in a systematic study of the mystery of God, of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Church, the central beliefs that Catholics hold, the basis for them and the relationship between faith and life
to enable pupils continually to deepen their religious and theological understanding and be able to communicate this effectively
to present an authentic vision of the Church’s moral and social teaching to provide pupils with a sure guide for living and the tools to critically engage with contemporary culture and society
to give pupils an understanding of the religions and worldviews present in the world today and the skills to engage in respectful and fruitful dialogue with those whose worldviews differ from their own
to develop the critical faculties of pupils so as to bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture
to stimulate pupils’ imagination and provoke a desire for personal meaning as revealed in the truth of the Catholic faith
to enable pupils to relate the knowledge gained through religious education to their understanding of other subjects in the curriculum

We also aim to address the following trends that affect the teaching of Religious Education:

rapid developments in communication and information technology that have led to a web-based proliferation of competing sources of ‘authority’
the privatisation of morality and a focus on personal choice rooted in feelings has increased the domination of the ‘dictatorship of relativism’ in moral reasoning
the influence of the ‘New Atheism’ and the rejection of the supernatural
the widespread yet fallacious view that science and faith are opposed to one another
the rich diversity of religious practice found in modern Britain, including the growth of Islam

The primary purpose of Catholic Religious Education is to come to know and understand God’s revelation, which is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

Religious Education Curriculum Map

religious studies curriculum map 2024 2025.pdf