Religious Education
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Religious Education at St Gerard's
At St Gerard’s, we believe that each child is unique. The recognition of this individuality, together with a concern for the total development of the ‘whole child’ is at the heart of our educational philosophy. This is in line with our Mission Statement, which is evident around our school. This is to remind all staff, parents and visitors of our reasons for learning. We feel that this development is best achieved in an atmosphere where personal relationships can flourish and children of all faiths are respected and given the opportunity to explore their own capabilities and potential, in the know that they have the support and encouragement of a caring community.
St Gerard’s is part of the local community. We accept Catholic children living within the parish of St Marie’s. In addition, we admit a number of traveller children and children from the local refuge. Many of the children come to us from non-Christian faith traditions, with no religious beliefs or affiliations whatsoever. All are made to feel welcome and all of the children participate to a greater or lesser extent in the school’s religious activities. Our school is part of the parish of St Wilfrid’s.
Religious Education occupies a central place in the life of our school and is found across the whole curriculum, stimulating spiritual growth and development along with academic, physical and social progress. We use the Come and See programme of study from Nursery to Year 6. As well as Catholic teachings, we also incorporate learning about other faiths and religions through focus weeks.
Religious Studies address all pupils in our school, regardless of diversity of religious background and commitment. They aim to:
- Help pupils recognise and appreciate the religious and spiritual dimensions of life.
- Lead to a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith and other religious traditions.
- Challenge pupils to examine their own commitment and to respect that of others.
As a school, we recognise that there will be vacancies in the stages and levels of faith experienced by individual members of our school community. We recognise the importance of interaction between home, parish and school in fostering true Christian attitudes and helping to develop in each person, a deeper understanding of their relationship with God.
We are concerned that the presence of Christ should be evident to all within our school and we aim to promote a welcoming atmosphere of co-operation where experience and expertise can be shared with mutual trust and openness.
Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) at St Gerard's
Our School’s mission embraces the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and social development of children and young people. Through an agreed approach to Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) using the Archdiocesan recommended resource ‘Journey In Love’, we believe that we can promote the development of the whole child, so that children can grow in virtue, wisdom and stature, understanding both the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing spiritually, as well as moral aspects of relationships within a context of a Christian vision for the purpose of life.
The other aspects of the statutory curriculum intent will be met by Ten: Ten Life to the Full alongside a programme of books through guided read that explore equality and family. Life to the Full is a fully resourced Scheme of Work in Relationships and Health Education (RHE) for Catholic primary schools, which embraces and fulfils the new statutory curriculum.
As part of our commitment to you, we will hold a meeting annually for the parents and carers of children across the school to discuss the programme. As parents, you have the right to withdraw your child from this aspect of the curriculum however, this is not to be confused with curriculum Science which is statutory.
At St Gerard's, we ensure that we give back to others by fundraising for a range of charities. So far this year, we have raised money for Mary's Meals through a cake sale and for Claire House through our Christmas Hat day! We also work closely with charities such as Cafod to provide our children with opportunities to be educated about their work and to see what we can do to support them. Look at some of our pictures below!
