St Peter's Catholic
Primary School
"Loved by Jesus, we love, we learn, we live and grow together for Him"
RE
RE, Catholic Life & Collective Worship at St Peter's
At St Peter's, we follow the curriculum strategy Learning and Growing as the People of God provided by the Archdiocese of Birmingham for teaching RE. The Strategy was written using the Learning Outcomes provided in the Bishop’s Conference document the Curriculum Directory as a basis.
Our entire curriculum is underpinned by RE. RE is not something we simply teach discreetly. The Catholic Life of our school permeates all aspects of our school life and will be found in every lesson and every interaction with each other. To help with this, the archdiocese of Birmingham has produced the Catholic Pupil Profile, which focuses us on what it is to be Catholic in the twenty-first Century. Additionally, there are many of chances for extended writing in RE as well as the opportunity for children to write their own prayers.
Faith is an integral part of our school. A minimum of 10% of the curriculum is given to the RE curriculum. An overview of the RE curriculum may be found under our Catholic Life header - a link is below. The children’s faith is enriched through contact with the faith and prayer of the staff and the Catholic atmosphere of the school.
Children are helped to understand their world and their lives in the light of their faith. The school supports, extends and clarifies what the children learn and experience at home and in church. Daily worship and Religious Education are seen as having an important influence in promoting the Catholic attitudes and values we hope children will apply through their lives.
Collective Worship
There is a daily act of worship for all children that is suited to their age and stage of personal, social and religious development. Children are involved as much as possible in leading school worship.
The parish priest, Father Gary, helps the children to appreciate and participate in the liturgy of the Church. During the school term, the children take part in the celebration of the Mass either in church or school. The major Christian festivals are celebrated with special services in which pupils participate. Parents are very welcome to join us on these occasions. When the children are in Year 3 they prepare for the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. The school welcomes the support of the parents at this time in the spiritual lives. In Year 6 the children prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Throughout this involvement, we aim to deepen the faith of the whole family at these important stages in a child’s life.
Parents have a statutory right to withdraw their children from Religious Education and worship. It is not expected that parents seeking a place in a Catholic School would wish to exercise this option. In many instances it would be very difficult to identify a specifically "Religious" element in a topic or theme as Catholic philosophy underpins so much of our everyday work. Any parents considering withdrawing their children from this area of the curriculum should put their request in writing to the Head teacher. They are very strongly urged to discuss the matter with the Head teacher in advance of any such decision.