At Saint Thomas More Catholic Primary School our mission is to ‘Learn and Grow as God’s Holy People.’ We aim to encourage the spiritual and moral development of the children within the context of the Catholic faith, whilst sustaining a respect and understanding of other faiths and beliefs. We promote core Gospel values and aim to keep Christ at the centre of what we do.
Religious Education at Saint Thomas More School has a very high priority in the life of the school. Not only is it an important area of the curriculum but is also recognised as a core subject that has the capacity to engage pupils’ intellect, heart, and imagination.
Through the RE curriculum and Sacramental programme at St Thomas More we guide and support the children on their journey of faith.
The Strategy
Each Year group from Nursery to Year 6 follow the Archdiocese of Birmingham’s Curriculum Strategy for Religious Education in Catholic Schools called “Learning and Growing as people of God”.
The Strategy is divided into several units, usually twelve, which cover four main areas of study. It is through the construction of a spiral curriculum that children’s knowledge and understanding is developed.
The children learn about the Liturgical Seasons of the Church’s year. They find out about the significance of each season, its signs and symbols and the different liturgies celebrated in each season.
The children study both Old Testament and New Testament scripture in order to give them familiarity and knowledge of a breadth of scripture as well as allowing them to explore and understand how our Catholic beliefs are rooted in what scripture reveals to us.
As part of the strategy the children learn about how it is to live as Christians today, how the Church is organised from global to parish level and also the opportunities which exist for them to participate in the life of the Church.
Assessment
The children are assessed in RE using the National and Diocesan assessment. At the beginning of each unit of work Children can share their previous knowledge and at the end of the unit they are given the opportunity to share their new knowledge learnt.
The Teaching Of Gospel Values And Virtues
Saint Thomas More School exists for the express purpose of teaching, practising, and passing on the Catholic faith to our young people and therefore the Gospel message underpins everything we do here. We maintain very close links with our local parish and the Priest and Deacons play an important role in the life of our school.
At Saint Thomas More we are following the Archdiocese of Birmingham’s Catholic Schools Profile. In the profile there are eight sets of words which have been paired together because of their complimentary and harmonising relationship to one another. Each half term, we focus on a pair of words and think about how we can grow more like Jesus in our daily lives.
| Grateful & Generous | Eloquent & Truthful |
| Attentive & Discerning | Intentional & Prophetic |
| Compassionate & Loving | Learned & Wise |
| Faith-filled & hopeful | Curious & Active |
Acts Of Worship
The cultivation of an active prayer life for children and adults is central to our work at St Thomas More. Children take part in daily collective worship and regular liturgical assemblies, as well as celebrating Mass at Church.
Sacramental Programme
Parents are the first and most significant educators in a child’s life. Working together as a partnership of home, school and parish children are support and guided in their sacramental programme of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation.