Questions around the teaching of religious education (RE) in schools often arise among trainee teachers and those who are recently qualified. There can be some misconceptions around the role of RE in the curriculum and whether or not that role is different in schools with a religious character. It is important to understand the facts before considering which school to apply for!
The national curriculum contains the legal requirement that, “Every state-funded school must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based, and which:
- promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils; and
- prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
All state schools are also required to make provision for a daily act of collective worship and must teach religious education to pupils at every key stage.
In Catholic schools, RE is the “core of the curriculum.” The Catholic Education Service explains that in putting RE at the core of the curriculum in Catholic schools, “helps the school to fulfil its mission to educate the whole person in discerning the meaning of their existence, since “Religious Education is concerned not only with intellectual knowledge but also includes emotional and affective learning.” (Religious Education in Catholic schools (catholiceducation.org.uk))
It is important to understand the purpose of RE in Catholic schools because it is slightly different from RE in other schools. The Catholic Education Service explains that Catholic schools exist to in order to “help parents, priests and teachers to hand on the Deposit of Faith in its fullness to a new generation of young people so that they may come to understand the richness of the Catholic faith and thereby be drawn into a deeper communion with Christ in his Church.” (Religious Education in Catholic schools (catholiceducation.org.uk))
The Religious Education Curriculum Directory (RECD) makes the aims of Religious Education explicit:
- To present engagingly a comprehensive content which is the basis of knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith;
- To enable pupils continually to deepen their religious and theological understanding and be able to communicate this effectively;
- To present an authentic vision of the Church's moral and social teaching so that pupils can make a critique of the underlying trends in contemporary culture and society;
- To raise pupils' awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities in order to respect and understand them;
- To develop the critical faculties of pupils so that they can relate their Catholic faith to daily life;
- To stimulate pupils' imagination and provoke a desire for personal meaning as revealed in the truth of the Catholic faith;
- To enable pupils to relate the knowledge gained through Religious Education to their understanding of other subjects in the curriculum;
- To bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture.
All Catholic schools must teach about other religions, too, and this will feature in RE lessons throughout a child’s school life in Catholic schools. Learning RE from a multi-faith perspective remains an important element of education for many reasons, not least that having knowledge of the role of religions in the world helps children to engage in the world around them with understanding of the communities in which they live.
Catholic schools are distinct from other schools with a religious character. These distinctive characteristics of Catholic schools are guaranteed both canonically and statutorily.
Certain legal requirements include:
- The right of the bishops to determine the content of the RE curriculum in Catholic schools (Vatican)
- The right of Catholic schools to worship as a Catholic community
- The independence of the inspection of denominational education and worship which, in a Catholic school, cannot be inspected by an Ofsted inspector but must be inspected by an inspector appointed by the bishop (Education Act 2005).
- The right of a Catholic school to priorities Catholic children over those of other faiths in the over subscription criteria within Catholic schools’ admissions codes
- The requirement that certain key posts within a Catholic school are reserved for practicing Catholics. These posts include head teacher, deputy head teacher and curriculum leader of Religious Education.
- The requirement that foundation governors always constitute a majority on the governing body of any Catholic schools. The bishop has the right of appointment and dismissal of foundation governors in Catholic schools.
What is it like to teach RE in a Catholic school?
St Bonaventure’s is a Roman Catholic Boys’ School in Forest Gate, London. Mr Andy Lewis, Deputy Headteacher, explains his experience of teaching RE there:
“Catholic RE in a Catholic school is different and unique. Firstly, it is not limited to being a discreet timetabled lesson - RE is the responsibility of all and takes place throughout the curriculum and beyond. For example, a truly Catholic school curriculum would ensure that great Catholic works of art and literature are studied, and the contributions of Catholic scientists are celebrated.
“For the timetabled lessons, there is also something somewhat different. I have personally paraphrased and simplified this "RE in the Catholic school must be academic for all, catechesis for some." There is a great academic theological and philosophical tradition within the Church, but we also have to recognise that many parents and students come to the school to 'learn their faith' - something they believe to be true.
“The new Religious Education Directory (RED) sets out clearly its mission in its name "To know you more clearly" (from the prayer of St Richard of Chichester). In its introduction it does remind teachers of RE in a Catholic school that, the "educational mission of the Church to make ‘Christ known to all people'".
“This is why Catholic RE does remain Christocentric in its approach - but worth remembering with its 10% curriculum time - it still often dedicates similar learning hours to other faiths as many community schools. This allows what the RED calls an experience of genuine "encounter and dialogue".”
Find out more…
National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (natre.org.uk)
Catholic Education Service: Home (catholiceducation.org.uk)
National curriculum in England: framework for key stages 1 to 4 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Religious Education Directory (catholiceducation.org.uk)
About the author
Elizabeth Holmes
After graduating with a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading, Elizabeth Holmes completed her PGCE at the Institute of Education, University of London. She then taught humanities and social sciences in schools in London, Oxfordshire and West Sussex, where she ran the history department in a challenging comprehensive. Elizabeth specialises in education but also writes on many other issues and themes. As well as her regular blogs for Eteach and FEjobs, her books have been published by a variety of publishers and translated around the world. Elizabeth has also taught on education courses in HE and presented at national and international conferences.
