Religious Education
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AT ST. SIMON'S
THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE
Religious Education (RE) is more than just a subject here at St Simon's. It is at the heart of all our teaching and learning. We want every child to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and to be happy and enthusiastic learners of RE.
All primary schools within the Diocese of Shrewsbury use The Way, the Truth and the Life (WTL) programme as the main resource to support the teaching of religious education. This provides “learning experiences which enable pupils to engage, in the wholeness of their being, in this exploration they are encouraged to seek the truth, which is God, to develop their understanding and to reflect on its meaning for them.” Children develop their own personal skills and judgements, greater self-awareness and spirituality. At St Simon's we aim to maximise and clarify “The Way, the Truth & the Life”, so that it is specifically tailored to meet the needs and requirements of our pupils.
Our Religious Education follows the key events in the Liturgical Year such as: Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. The scheme of work is supplemented by other resources and by regular professional development on creative and engaging approaches to the teaching of religious education.
This syllabus is based on the Religious Education Curriculum Directory for Catholic schools. It has been developed by teachers in direct response to a perceived need for a clear framework for effective, systematic and rigorous teaching and learning, at least equal to that of other curriculum areas. To this end it addresses both content and methodology.
The primary content of all religious education material is the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church and their implications for the lives of people today, and particularly for the lives of the pupils. Religious education material must, therefore, always present the three key elements of the Christian faith:
1. that every human event is marked by the creative activity of God which communicates goodness to all beings;
2. that the reality and power of sin limit and numb every person;
3. that the life, death and resurrection of Christ, communicated by the Holy Spirit, give believers the hope of a definitive ‘fulfilment’.