Religious Education
We prioritise Religious Education – it is at the core of our curriculum, allowing us to develop children’s religious knowledge and understanding of their faith.
At St Charles, we follow the ‘RED To Know You More Clearly’ programme.
‘To Know You More Clearly’ is the new Religious Education programme of study that will become statutory in all Catholic Schools in England and Wales from September 2026 and will replace the previous Come and See Curriculum that we had in place.
The religious education program in Catholic schools, as outlined in this directory, follows a framework with four key components: knowledge lenses, ways of knowing, expected outcomes, and curriculum branches. The curriculum consists of six branches, each corresponding to one of the six half-terms in the school year. These branches aim to guide pupils on a journey grounded in the story of salvation, focusing on different aspects of Jesus’ life and revisiting them annually to deepen their understanding of His ministry.
Branches and Lenses
There are six branches in the RED Curriculum. Each class will study one topic per half term.
The six curriculum branches are:
Creation and Covenant
Prophecy and Promise
Galilee to Jerusalem, Desert to Garden
To the Ends of the Earth
Dialogue and Encounter.
Each branch follows: Here – Believe – Celebrate- Live
At the heart of our RE curriculum are our ‘Big Questions’, which ultimately drive the learning of each topic. each year group’s ‘Big Question’ gets gradually more thought provoking and provides opportunity for in-depth responses. All the questions for each year group remain open-ended and challenging, providing children with opportunities to engage with the deepest questions of life, encouraging pupil collaboration, discussion and reflection. Children are exposed to the mystery of God, the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Church, lives of Saints and the relationship between faith and life. Big Questions Grid
Assessment
At the end of each branch and lenses the children will:
- Understand
- Discern
- Respond
at the appropriate level for their year group. The expectations for each year group progress to develop a deeper and broader understanding of Religious Education. We make use of external and internal moderation opportunities to ensure the quality of teacher’s judgments, as well as half-termly book scrutiny to ensure work is engaging and is sufficiently challenging for all pupils.
As a Catholic School, RE is a core subject and in line with the Bishops’ Conference recommendations, 10% of teaching time is allocated to RE (equating to two and a half hours for all classes).
You can find out more about the ‘RED: To Know You More Clearly’ scheme here:
Religious Education Directory (RED) To Know You More Clearly
Further information on our R.E. Curriculum , including the current topics, can be found below and in the half-termly newsletters sent home to each class.
