As a Catholic school, Religious Education is one of our core subjects alongside English and Maths. It is taught for approximately 2.5 hours per week. We are currently using the new RED programme, it stands for Religious Education Directory, a new framework published in 2023 for Catholic schools in England & Wales. It replaces the older scheme, Come and See so by September 2026 all Catholic primary schools will be using RED.
Religious Education
Religious Education
RED is organised around six “branches”, one for each half-term. Each branch frames teaching over roughly a 6-week period. The branches are:
- Creation & Covenant
- Prophecy & Promise
- Galilee to Jerusalem
- Desert to Garden
- To the Ends of the Earth
- Dialogue & Encounter
Alongside the branches, learning is viewed via “lenses” / “ways of knowing”, often expressed with words like Hear / Word; Believe / Creed; Celebrate / Liturgy; Live / Life. These lenses help children both gain knowledge and grow in faith, as well as see how faith connects with daily life.
For each branch & lens, pupils are encouraged to Understand, Discern, Respond — not just to learn facts, but to think about what they believe, how they live, and how they can act.
Below you will see the yearly overview of topics explored per each year group.
Big Questions Grid
The Big Questions Grid is a structured tool that outlines key, open-ended questions for each year group, aligned with the liturgical themes of the Church year. These questions serve as starting points for inquiry, reflection, and discussion, helping children engage with the core aspects of Catholic faith and its relevance to their lives.
Please feel free to explore the links below for more information:
An Introduction to Catholic Education
RED To Know You More Clearly Web Version
The purpose of our RE displays is to support the children in their learning. On these, you will see the head, heart and cloud logos which link to different areas of the children’s learning, driver words which help the children to become more familiar with the skills which they are learning or developing, the ‘Big Question’ for the current topic with pupil responses, and key vocabulary from the topic. You may also see links to the Bishop’s Theme, our school prayers, a liturgical calendar and ‘Think/Link’ signposting for KS2.
Each classroom also has their own sacred space which is changed in accordance with the liturgical year. These offer an additional space and opportunity for spontaneous prayer.
