Religious Education

For RE we follow the ‘Come and See’ Catholic Primary Religious Education Programme. This is a special programme which allows the children to learn about the Catholic faith and to know Jesus more. Throughout the year, we also look at other faiths. Come and See is an invitation to exploration and a promise of life for everyone.

What does the Come and See offer?

Come and See offers the opportunity to search, to explore, to discover and to respond; this is part of what it is to be human.

• 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 Vincent’s

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

• Religious Education will be taught discretely and developmentally. Deepening of their knowledge and applying it to real life.
• Children offered ample opportunities to apply and use their knowledge and skills within cross-curricular links.
• Engage with their own and other beliefs.
• Engage with difficult questions of meaning and purpose, to enable them to think critically about their own questions.
• To offer children 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’ programmes supports and enables the faith experience of all children because it starts with their real life experience and leads them to reflect upon and consider the Christian message in all its richness in that experience.

We are following the teachings and indeed the actions of Our Lord. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well he spoke about first about the need for water, as he asked for a drink. This enabled him to tell her about the living water – which is himself (John 4:5-42).

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 each time in greater depth. The catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the human search for meaning, God’s initiative in Revelation who comes to meet us and our response to faith. This pattern guides the structure of the programme and informs the process of each topic, opened up through: Explore, Reveal and Respond.

• Within Explore –children begin to look at and focus on the experience with their own lives – concerning themselves, their relationships and the world. (This usual takes one week to complete)
• Within 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)
• Within Respond –this is where the learning is assimilated, celebrated and responded to in daily life. (This usual takes one week to complete).

Find out more at the website : https://www.comeandseere.co.uk/