At St Francis Xavier, we strive to provide all of our pupils with a robust, thorough and knowledge rich religious education which provides a strong foundation for our pupils' personal faith. The children study scripture, the teaching of the Catholic Church, the sacraments, key acts of worship, prayer and learn about key figures in the Catholic Church. Furthermore, the pupils learn about other faiths including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Our RE curriculum is organised progressively and by theme so that what children learn builds upon their prior knowledge, and they encounter the same thematic topics in greater depth in each year group from Nursery to Year 6 towards clearly defined end points. 

Through our RE curriculum, we endeavor to inspire within our pupils a love of learning, passion for their faith and to promote tolerance and understanding of those of different faiths. We teach our pupils that every individual is created unique, in the image and likeness of God and therefore are entitled to respect. We aim for religious education lessons and experiences to be unlike any other in school to create the opportunity for not only learning about the Catholic Faith, but also awe, wonder, reverence and spirituality in a creative way. 

Y2: Signs and Symbols

We have been analysing scripture and explaining how it shows that God shows us all mercy and forgiveness.

Year 2 loved celebrating Pentecost. They used their drawing skills to create a self portrait and then attached flames onto their heads. This symbolised the fact that we are all disciples of Jesus, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Year One had a wonderful Pentecost Party to celebrate the birthday of the church. We had flame hats to reflect the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit.

This week the children have been learning about Pentecost. The children have been decorating the letters that spell Alleluia, to represent the joy that everyone had when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.

For our Lenten topic, Year 4 have been looking at self-discipline. As part of this we debated whether Jesus was right to say we should love our enemies and then presented our ideas to the class. 

Local Church: Community

In RE we were learning about role models. We learnt through the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet that Jesus is our ultimate role model and we should always follow his example. So we showed love to each, like Jesus, by washing each other's feet.

Year 2 have been exploring the topic 'Thanksgiving'. They have explored what they are thankful for and the different ways they can say thank you. They then learnt about the story of the Last Supper and its significance. 

Today the children have made Easter Gardens in preparation of Easter.

This week we have been looking at Gathering and how we gather as a school and at home. The children drew pictures of who they gather with at school and who they gather with at home. Alongside this, the children gathered together in groups to make a band. They produced some wonderful music. 

Year Three have explored our journey through a year by making a whole class calendar. They then looked at the key events in the Church's year to create liturgical calendars collaboratively.

Year Three really enjoyed visiting the local Mosque to learn about how Muslims pray and the main features within the Mosque. They were also able to listen to part of the Qu'ran being recited, seeing how Wudu takes place when entering the Mosque and explored different Islamic artefacts. The children at St Francis Xavier are looking forward to welcoming our local Imam into our school soon to learn even more about the interesting faith.  

Year 2 loved learning about Islam. They learnt all about how Muslims pray at home and what life is like in a Muslim family.

In Nursery we have been learning about the faith Islam. The children have been looking at special objects. Miss May let everyone look at her ring, which is a special object to her. The children were very careful with it and we spoke about how it was precious and how we should look after it. We then talked about Muslim's and how their special object is a prayer mat. We watched a video of a young boy showing us how they pray on a prayer mat and each took it in turns, after we had took our shoes off and washed our feet, to pray on the prayer mat. To finish the topic, we stood by the display board and remembered what we had learnt. We then sang a special song to God! 

Year 4 have been looking at the Qur'an as part of our Islam week. We looked at what the book means to Muslims and how the subha represents the 99 names of Allah.

As part of our community topic, Year 4 explored the idea of what it would be like to be new to a community and what we could do to help those were new. We also looked at the letter from St Paul to the Romans asking them to be real about loving and then acted out how we can follow St Paul's words in modern scenarios. 

Advent: Loving

Year 2 have been learning about the importance of preparing during Advent.

As we prepare for Christmas, we have been using story stones to retell the story of the first Christmas. 

As we get ready for Christmas, there's so many things to do! I'm trying to remember, Jesus, that it all comes back to you. I am part of your family, a branch on this Jesse Tree. Help me listen to these stories, and what they are saying to me. Amen.

Nursery class explored and expressed our monthly virtue of HOPE. Jake drew a rainbow for Mrs Searson using pencil crayons. We took the opportunity to talk about how this made Mrs Season feel in our Classroom Worship time, which was 'hopeful'. We talked about the word 'hope' being deeper than a wish and longer lasting than a one off prayer. We linked the learning with the story of Noah's Ark and the symbolism of a promise in the rainbow, which gives us hope for a better world, even today. We learnt the rainbow song and discussed what hope might feel or look like and what colour it might be. We used a range of media to express our thoughts and feelings together. We ended with a prayer of thanks for today and hope for a better tomorrow.

Other Faiths: Judaism

In Year 1 during multi faith week, we enjoyed learning about the religion of Judaism. We listened to the story of Abraham and explored a piece of scripture through creative art work! 

Genesis 12:1-3. God promised Abraham “I will give you this land for your descendants. I will make you a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky” 💫

In Reception, we have been talking about kindness. After our story, the children shared their ideas about what it means to be kind and we hung them on our kindness tree. 

In Year Three, the children explored Synagogues around the world and even took a virtual tour of a Synagogue in New York City. They then compared a Jewish Synagogue to a Catholic Church looking at the similarities and differences. They enjoyed exploring the different items that would be used by Jews in a Synagogue.

Nursery class explored Judaism and Hanukkah. We used books to look at photographs and find information and new vocabulary together. We used our senses to explore artefacts and objects from the faith and from the past. Mrs Searson talked to the children about her experience of visiting Jerusalem and the important places in the photographs. Children are beginning to know that there are different religions. They are beginning to understand that some things are similar and different to the Catholic faith. They can use their senses to talk about artefacts and objects linked to religion.

Year 2 linked their Collective Worship to their topic of 'Beginnings', celebrating the new beginnings in the world. For example, we discussed the Story of Creation or Jesus' birth as a beginning. We also talked about beginnings in our own lives, such as starting a new school/year group, moving house or getting a new baby brother or sister. We discussed the fact that new beginnings can be easy and exciting but they can also be difficult and scary sometimes. However, despite this, God is always there for us, watching over us and protecting us.

Remembrance at St Francis Xavier

In class, Year 6 have been learning about what Remembrance means and the importance of Armistice Day. They were then tasked with creating a poem or prayer based on Remembrance.

Remembrance Day - Children thought about the word 'remember' as part of the Remembrance Day and what this might mean when thinking about the 'past'. We explored and expressed our thoughts and feelings though listening to stories and poems, looking at and representing Poppy flowers in a range of ways and joining our school family to take time to remember those in the past. We explored the word 'peace' and made a prayer together.

Baptism/ Confirmation: Belonging

Year 2 have enjoyed learning about Signs and Symbols in RE. They have learnt about the signs and symbols of the Church and what these symbolise and represent. 

For our Promises topic in RE we explored the different groups we belong to in and out of school and discussed what it means to be in a group and a shared community.  The children really enjoyed asking Father Henry the questions they had written about Baptism and learnt so much from his responses.

We then looked at Baptism as a special Sacrament where both our families, Godparents and ourselves make a promise to God. We compared the similarities and differences between Jesus' Baptism and a Baptism that would take place in a Church today.

Reception enjoyed role playing a baptism. We spoke about how a baptism welcomes people into God's family and talked about how objects are used throughout this celebration. 

Nursery marked October as the Month of the Rosary. We introduced Mother Mary, the Hail Mary and Rosary Beads. Children worked collaboratively to produced a large scale Rosary Bead and then were lucky enough to be gifted with their very own Rosary to take home and share with their families.

Following their special collective worship about Queen Elizabeth, Year Three wrote caring prayers about the Queen. Focusing on her qualities we are grateful for.

Nursery have a growing independence in RE. We have looked at our baby photographs and had a visit from baby Jack and his mummy who shared their baptism journey with us. We then role played our experiences and explored the signs and symbols of the church and new vocabulary.

Welcome - In RE, Reception have been talking about how we would welcome someone new into our class. Our children loved meeting our new friend and giving them lots of hugs!

Domestic Church: Family

Our Year One children have enjoyed looking at photos of their families that they brought in to share. They then decided to draw and label their family portraits.

In Year One, they sculpted a beautiful family ring as they discussed those that share love with them in their families. They also discussed ways in which they show love too. They took their rings home with a little tea light to share with their families. Some children have said they will be using these during prayer time at home. 

In Year 2, they have created a piece of artwork in RE to represent and celebrate the fact that God is always with us.

During their Home topic, Year Three focused on the joys and sorrows within their homes and created their own class wall- focusing on what they believe are the vital characteristics needed in a happy home. 

Year 4 looked at the family of Ruth including her descendant Solomon. They used speech bubbles to represent how Ruth was to both her mother-in-law Naomi and husband Boaz. They then looked at how Solomon was a great and wise leader.