At St Joseph’s, Religious Education (RE) is central to our curriculum and underpins the Christian values that define our school community. We aim to help every child grow in knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, while also guiding them to reflect on their own spiritual journey.

10% of our curriculum time is dedicated to RE and we follow the God Matters scheme, adapted to meet the needs of our pupils. Lessons encourage children to connect scripture with their own lives, to ask big questions about purpose and faith, and to reflect on how Jesus’ teachings remain relevant today.

Children come to us at different points in their faith journey. Some may already be familiar with scripture, while others may be encountering the Gospel for the first time. Our teaching supports all learners by:

• Building knowledge and understanding of Catholic faith and life

• Exploring how faith responds to life’s big questions

• Developing skills of reflection, debate, and ethical thinking

From an early age, pupils enjoy engaging with Bible stories, prayer, role play and creative activities. As they grow, they become increasingly reflective, confident in using religious vocabulary, and able to debate moral issues with passion and respect. Each class also contributes to recording prayers, reflections and responses to world events.

The values of love, forgiveness and justice taught in RE permeate our whole school life. Children regularly take part in charity and community projects, including CAFOD workshops and Eco initiatives. In this way, they learn to put their faith into action.

While our focus is on the Catholic faith, we also explore the beliefs of other world religions. Children are taught the importance of tolerance and respect, recognising similarities across faiths.

Our whole school gathers for liturgies and Mass with our Parish Priest throughout the year, and parents are warmly invited to join in communal worship.

When children leave St Joseph’s, they do so confident in their own faith, respectful of others, and committed to living out Christ’s teaching of love, justice and equality.