RE

“Don't be scared, dare to have fabulous plans. I encourage you to not be afraid to dream, to have great ideals, to be builders of Hope" Pope Francis 

Religious Education is at the heart of the curriculum at St Augustine’s Catholic School. We aim to provide a religious education which creates “religiously literate young people who have the knowledge, understanding and skills – appropriate to their age and capacity – to think spiritually, ethically and theologically, and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.”  This is because, as a Catholic school, we believe that one of the most important areas of life is to reflect and think about the profound life questions, exploring the meaning and purpose of our God given lives.

Religious Education is a core GCSE subject at St Augustine’s Catholic School. It develops an awareness of different views, cultures and beliefs, and develops skills such as literacy, reasoning, and considering and evaluating different points of view. This makes it a strong indicator to employers and further education institutions of the academic ability and openness to learning of the person who has a good grade in the subject.

Religious Education encourages students to use their unique gifts and talents to enquire, critically examine and reflect on various approaches to the study of religion which will enhance their personal, social and cultural development. Students grow to understand and respect the many different cultures of our world, social community cohesion and their own values opinions and attitudes.

The Religious Education Department is committed to role modelling Catholic Social Teaching (CSTs) to our students. RE gives students every opportunity to further their knowledge of the CSTs as well as live out these teachings in their own lives and though out the school community. Students explicitly study the CST in our year 9 curriculum as well as through- out Paper 1 and 2 in the GCSE course. Our charity and enrichment program also give students the opportunity to apply the CSTs to demonstrate their commitment to social justice.

In RE we are enabling our young people to be SAINTs in RE by:

1. Presenting and engaging and comprehensive content which is the basis of knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith;
2. Encouraging students to continually deepen their religious and theological understanding and be able to communicate this effectively;
3. Presenting an authentic vision of the Church’s moral and social teaching so that students can make a critique of the underlying trends in contemporary culture and society;
4. Raising students’ awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities in order to respect and understand them;
5. Developing the critical faculties of students so that they can relate their Catholic faith to daily life;
6. Stimulating students’ imagination and provoking a desire for personal meaning as revealed in the truth of the Catholic faith;
7. Enabling students to relate the knowledge gained through Religious Education to their understanding of other subjects in the curriculum;
8. Bringing clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture;
9. Challenging worldviews which promote racism, ignorance and religious hatred;
10. Teaching diversity of opinion in world views.

Students will be successful SAINT’s students if they progress to:

1. Development of the skills to critically analyse theological, ethical and spiritual knowledge to arrive at a personal position in religious matters that are consistent and respectful of the positions of others, so contributing to their growth and to a more complete understanding of reality.
2. A deep acquisition of knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith and it’s core teachings.
3. Development of all students to be capable of living the fullness of Christian life.
4. Development of the skills required for students to successfully live in a multi-faith society, where they share core values which promote respect for the rights and dignity of every human person.
5. The understanding of their personal duty to support the collective responsibility for social cohesion.

Curriculum Map