Religious Education is delivered through the ‘Come and See’ RE resource. In every year group, we allocate 10% of our curriculum time to RE lessons.

About ‘Come and See’

‘Come and See’ is an invitation, which is open to everyone in the family of God. It offers the opportunity to search, to explore, to discover and to respond; this is part of what it is to be human.

We each have a role to play in the delivery of this scheme of work for RE.

• Children – ‘Come and See’ the wonder of all that is within them and beyond.
• God – offers the invitation to ‘Come and See’
• Teacher – facilitates the opportunity for children to ‘Come and See’

Teaching and Learning with Religious Education at St Wilfrid’s.

The teaching of Religious Education at St Wilfrid’s is governed by the following principles:

• Religious Education will be taught discretely and developmentally, deepening children’s knowledge and applying it to real life.
• Children will be offered opportunities to apply and use their knowledge and skills within cross-curricular and wider community links.
• Children will engage with their own and other beliefs.
• Children are prompted to reflect on ‘big’ questions of meaning and purpose, to enable them to think critically about their own questions.
• Children are offered a real sense of worth by belonging to a caring community and the commitment to this community, as well as developing an awareness of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.

Outcome of Religious Education

As a school we endeavour to attain the following:

‘The outcome of excellent religious education is religiously literate and 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 are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life’

(Religious Education Curriculum Directory for Catholic Schools 2001)

All our children are included regardless of their age and ability. The ‘Come and See’ programme supports and enables the faith development of all children because it starts with their own life experience and leads them to reflect upon and consider the Christian message in all its richness.

The ‘Come and See’ programme is developed through three themes based on the four constitutions of the second Vatican council, ‘Revelation’, ‘Church’, ‘Christian Living’ and ‘Sacraments’. Each of the four constitutions are gradually explored, with increasing depth as children move through the school. This pattern guides the structure of the programme and informs the process of each topic, opened up through: Explore, Reveal and Respond.

Explore

Children begin to look at and focus on the experience within their own lives – concerning themselves, their relationships and the world (this usual takes one week to complete).

Reveal

The heart of the process where knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith is revealed through the Word, in Scripture, Tradition, doctrine, prayers, rites and Christian living (this usual takes two weeks to complete).

Respond

This is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life (this usual takes one week to complete).

Big Questions

In partnership with Come and See, we incorporate ‘Big Questions’ into our units of learning throughout the year. These questions such as ‘ What makes a house a home?’ allow children more opportunities to reflect on the meaning of RE teaching in their lives. It also provides scope for discussion and further exploration of key concepts, which link directly to the themes of Come and See.