RE and celebrating faith at St Mary's

 Religious Education at St Mary's

As a Catholic community prayer is central to our daily life at school. Every day there is an act of collective worship throughout the school.  Each day starts and ends with prayer and Grace is said before lunch.  

• Monday : Whole school worship based on the Sunday Gospel led by the Head of School.
• Tuesday: Key Stage Worship and Class Worship (KS1 is led by teacher and KS2 is led by pupils) 
• Wednesday: Whole school worship led by the Executive Head teacher.
• Thursday - Key Stage Worship and Class Worship (KS1 is led by teacher and KS2 is led by pupils) 
• Friday: Whole school worship led by the Head of School.

We follow the liturgical calendar and we celebrate Mass on occasions such as - Epiphany, Shrove Tuesday and Pentecost. During Advent, KS1 and Early Years help us remember the Birth of Christ  in the Nativity.  Before we break up for the Christmas Holidays, the whole school community gathers together for a Candle-lit Carol Service.

Services are held during Advent and Lent.  All children are invited to attend and they are led by our parish priest, Father Steven.   

In the autumn term we celebrate Harvest Festival and the food collected is sent to a local food-bank.

We promote stewardship in all aspects of school life and encourage children to think about how they can have an impact on others and the wider world. Examples of this are:

• Rubbish rebellion - A group of children committed to recycling across school and raising awareness of the impact of rubbish and pollution. 
• CAFOD projects undertaken by Year 6
• Local Beach clean ups
• Year 6 leaders that have specialised roles across school, including chaplaincy ambassadors who prepare the hall for worship. 
• Equality and Diversity ambassadors that raise awareness of the rights of the child and treating everyone fairly. 

Curriculum RE

We follow the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth's programme of study - God Matters

Autumn term - Creation, Prayers, Catholic Social teaching and Advent

Spring term - Christmas, Revelation, Lent, Holy Week,

Summer term - Easter, Pentecost, Enquiry and Dialogue

This  is a core subject and as such is taught for 10% of the curriculum time.