Religious Education

2024/2025

Impact – Nursery

Impact – Reception

Impact – Year 1

Impact – Year 2

Impact – Year 3

Impact – Year 4 

Impact – Year 5 

Impact – Year 6

2023/2024

Impact – Nursery

Friends – Topic 8

In this topic children have been learning what it is to be a good friend. We have discussed kindness and what qualities you need to be a good friend. Children spoke about the need to be kind, share, listen, help and encourage one another.

We listened to Jesus’ friendship rule and discussed how we can all follow his rule to love one another. We drew a picture of ourselves and all placed it around Jesus to have up in our classroom.

Good News-Topic 7

In this topic children learnt how we give and receive good news. We enjoyed sending our friends letters and posting them in a special post box. We took it in turns to give out the post. It made us feel special to feel receive a special letter.We made gingerbread men for our friends and then sat down to enjoy them with our friends. We told each other what we like about one another.In this topic we learnt about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit came with good news that Jesus is alive. We made windmills and did paintings.

Growing-Topic 6

In this topic children learnt how and why things grow. We started off this topic by planting cress and thinking about what it needs to grow and what we think will happen. We discussed how we can grow more like Jesus. We drew pictures to show people together because Jesus loves us and we want to love one another. We spoke about and wrote how we could be more like Jesus and make some promises such as “I promise to share” and “I promise to help my mum”.

Gathering-Topic 5

One of the children’s favourite songs is “gather together”. We discussed when and why we gather together and what happens at a Mass. We went up to our school chapel and roleplayed mass. Children took in in turns to be Father Andrew. We also gathered together to do different activities such as a group painting and playing music. Children loved doing activities in groups with their friends.

Celebrating-Topic 4

We discussed how we celebrated Christmas and drew pictures of things we did such as see cake, spend time with family and visit church.We spoke about our family and the parish family. We drew pictures of our school family and artefacts that we see in church. During this topic children listened to the story of Mary taking Joseph to the temple. Children built temples using different resources and acted out the story. Children created paintings of parts of the story using water colours

Birthday-Topic 3

In this topic we learnt what a birthday is. Children understood that we celebrate our birthday on the day we were born. We started this topic by having a tea party with balloons and party hats.Children then were able to recognise that advent is when people get ready to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. We made decorations and wreaths.We made Christmas decorations and sang traditional Christmas Carols.We spoke about the nativity story and the birth of Jesus.We acted out the nativity story and performed “Whoops a daisy angel” to parents.

Belonging-Topic 2

In this topic children have been learning about what happens at a baptism. We discussed that at a baptism you are welcomed into our own and Gods family. Children spoke about how we can make people feel welcome. We roleplayed a baptism saying the words “ I baptise you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Children made their own baptism candles drawing religious symbols such as crosses, the font and doves.

Myself – Topic 1

Children have been learning to recognise what is good about themselves and how to talk about their own feelings. They have been able to ask and respond to questions about themselves.

Children were able to recognise and discuss the story “Jesus and the Children” They used puppets to role play and spoke about how the characters would feel in different parts of the story.

Impact – Reception

Friends – Topic 8

In this topic children have been learning what it is to be a good friend. We have discussed kindness and what qualities you need to be a good friend. Children spoke about the need to be kind, share, listen, help and encourage one another.

We listened to Jesus’ friendship rule and discussed how we can all follow his rule to love one another. We drew a picture of ourselves and all placed it around Jesus to have up in our classroom.

Good News – Topic 7

In this topic children learnt how we give and receive good news. We enjoyed sending our friends letters and posting them in a special post box. We took it in turns to give out the post. It made us feel special to feel receive a special letter.

We made gingerbread men for our friends and then sat down to enjoy them with our friends. We told each other what we like about one another.

In this topic we learnt about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit came with good news that Jesus is alive. We made windmills and did paintings.

Growing – Topic 6

In this topic children learnt how and why things grow. We started off this topic by planting cress and thinking about what it needs to grow and what we think will happen.

We discussed how we can grow more like Jesus. We drew pictures to show people together because Jesus loves us and we want to love one another.

We spoke about and wrote how we could be more like Jesus and make some promises such as “I promise to share” and “I promise to help my mum”.

Gathering – Topic 5

One of the children’s favourite songs is “gather together”. We discussed when and why we gather together and what happens at a Mass. We went up to our school chapel and roleplayed mass. Children took in in turns to be Father Andrew.

We also gathered together to do different activities such as a group painting and playing music. Children loved doing activities in groups with their friends.

We discussed what happens in church. We watched a video of a Mass and saw Farther Andrew. Children drew pictures of Farther Andrew and was able to act out what would happen in a Mass at church.

Celebrating – Topic 4

We discussed how we celebrated Christmas and drew pictures of things we did such as see cake, spend time with family and visit church.

We spoke about our family and the parish family. We drew pictures of our school family and artefacts that we see in church.

During this topic children listened to the story of Mary taking Joseph to the temple. Children built temples using different resources and acted out the story. Children created paintings of parts of the story using water colours.

Birthday- Topic 3

In this topic we learnt what a birthday is. Children understood that we celebrate our birthday on the day we were born. We started this topic by having a tea party with balloons and party hats.

Children then were able to recognise that advent is when people get ready to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. We made decorations and wreaths.

We made Christmas decorations and sang traditional Christmas Carols.

We spoke about the nativity story and the birth of Jesus.

We acted out the nativity story and performed “Whoops a daisy angel” to parents.

Belonging – Topic 2

In this topic children have been learning about what happens at a baptism. We discussed that at a baptism you are welcomed into our own and Gods family. Children spoke about how we can make people feel welcome. We roleplayed a baptism saying the words “I baptise you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit”.

Children made their own baptism candles drawing religious symbols such as crosses, the font and doves.

Myself – Topic 1

Children have been learning to recognise what is good about themselves and how to talk about their own feelings. They have been able to ask and respond to questions about themselves.

Children were able to recognise and discuss the story “Jesus and the Children” They used puppets to role play and spoke about how the characters would feel in different parts of the story.

Impact – Year  1

Sorry – Topic 8

In this topic we have discussed experiences and feelings about making choices and  asked and responded to questions about the consequences that choices have on others and ourselves.

We particularly enjoyed learning the scriptures about Zacchaeus and Levi and retold them in drama and writing. Some of us could link the tax collectors’ choices to the behaviour ladders in our class.

In learning about how God helps us to be kind we thought about and recorded words that show how we can be kind and ‘be a light that shines in the dark’.

We completed our learning in this topic by planning and act of worship with Miss Boyd with the theme of forgiveness.

Holidays and Holydays – Topic 7

During this topic we talked about our experiences and feelings about holidays. We were able to retell the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and describe the ways in which the Holy Spirit is a helper and guide.

We wrote a class prayer to the Holy Spirit for help and guidance in sharing the Good News of Jesus.

As part of our work we celebrated the feast of Pentecost. We made Fr Andrew and our Parish a Happy Pentecost Day card. We welcomed Fr Andrew into school to present it to him.

Change – Topic 6

As part of our topic change we learnt that Lent offers a time to reflect on life and change. This is a time to prepare for Easter and that change is a necessary part of healthy growth.

We have learnt that Lent is a time to change in preparation for the celebration of Easter and recognise that people use the opportunity of Lent to change and make a new start.

We recognised and described the ways that we grow and change and how we can use Lent for us to make changes.

We enjoyed acting out and retelling the scripture story of Palm Sunday and recorded our learning in words and pictures.

We completed our learning on the topic change by participating in the whole school Passion play leading the story of the Resurrection.

Meals – Topic 5

In our RE topic, meals we hear that the parish family gathers for the Eucharist (Mass), Jesus’ special meal.  We find strength in gathering for the celebration of the Eucharist and of God’s love in our lives.

We talked about our experience and feelings about meals which are special to us and wondered about why people share special meals.

We listened to and acted out the scripture of The Last supper. We learnt that people still celebrate this special meal when they gather for Mass and that the priest repeats the words Jesus said at the Last Supper; “This is my body and this is my blood.”  This is Jesus giving himself to us.

Special People – Topic 4

During our topic ‘special people’ we talked about the special people in our lives who are there to help us. We asked and responded to questions about what makes a person special and retold the story showing how Mary loved God so much that she wanted to please God by saying yes to God.

We learnt, that on a Sunday in church, we meet people who do special jobs as we gather to celebrate the Good News of Jesus, which included a guided tour of St Mary’s Church.

We talked about the roles of the people who help at Mass and know that the parish family gathers to celebrate Mass with the priest on Sunday.

Waiting Topic 3

During our topic ‘waiting’, we have learnt that Advent is a time when we appreciate the love in our lives. We know that Christians at Christmas celebrate the gift of Jesus, given by God as a sign and expression of God’s love.

We also spent time thinking about times it is necessary to wait and how we use that time.

As a class, we worked together to create our own Advent Wreath. We then used it over the four weeks during out Liturgical Prayer and RE lessons. As each candle was lit it reminded us that we wait for Jesus, who is the Light of the World.

We retold the story of The Annunciation, we know how Mary loved God so much that she agreed to be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God. We created some beautiful art work linked to this scripture.

Belonging Topic 2

Our lives are marked by many different experiences of being welcomed into new situations and groups.

In Year 1 we recognise the importance of welcome, of feeling comfortable with new situations and belonging to new groups. We belong to families, to work places and to social groupings.

We recorded the many different groups that we belong to.

During this topic we have learnt that Baptism enables people to belong to God’s family in a special way. Christians believe that everyone is invited to share in the life and work of God through Baptism.

We acted out a Baptism in class and learnt how Sacrament of Baptism is celebrated in church.

We know, that at the end of the Baptism everyone says the family prayer of the Church, the ‘Our Father’. This is a sign that the child belongs of the family of the Church. The priest blesses the mother and father and all the people in the church.

We enjoyed making our own Baptismal candle.

Families – Topic 1

Our first topic in RE is called families. We talked about our experiences and feelings about the different roles of people within families and have also spent time experiencing ‘wonder moments’ about the care given to people within families.

We were able to ask and respond to questions about the difference between families, recognising that we are all loved by God.

We listened to, talked about and retold Psalms which reveal God’s love and care and tell us something about Jesus’ childhood and learnt how Jesus grew up in a family who loved and cared for him.

We also listened to and respond to the Gospels, (Based on Luke 12: 24-30 and Matthew 6: 24-30) A story of two brothers who came to Jesus to ask him to sort out a problem about sharing out some money. Jesus explained to them that there were more important things in life than being rich. It is more important to be loving and kind.

Impact – Year 2

Rules – Topic 8

Our Rules topic saw the children devise their own Charter of classroom rules in our explore lesson. Then over the course of the topic children learnt about the importance of following rules and Jesus’s most important rule of all, to love an another. Children wrote prayers and posters describing ways we can make the right choices after committing a sin, and they learnt that we should forgive each other 77 times if we are following God’s rule.

Explore – Topic 7

For explore in our new topic Spread the News, children played the game Chinese whispers to see the importance of passing messages on accurately.

Respond

Ending the topic by completing their respond page, remembering what they have learnt and what has been the most important to them.

Children retold the story when the two Mary’s found the empty tomb and The Ascension in the style of a newspaper report for Jesus is Risen!

Writing about how as Christians we ‘Go Out’ and spread the good news about the new life in heaven with Jesus we will experience, and how in life we demonstrate how to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Opportunities – Topic 6

To begin our Lent topic of Opportunities children listened to the story Dogger by Shirley Hughes about a boy who lost his favourite toy and the sacrifice his sister made to help him get his teddy back. Children talked about the good choices made throughout the story and then wrote about the good choices they make at home or at school.

Thanks giving – Topic 5

Children completed their Respond page for our Thanksgiving topic writing about the different things they have learnt this term from the scripture used to recognising different ways we can say thank you and the importance of saying thank you.

This was followed by the end of unit Liturgy listening to the word and understanding how we can live out God’s mission to be thankful people.

Books – Topic 4

In this lesson children shared stories they knew from the Bible with one another. We then acted out one familiar story, The Good Samaritan, and children went on to retell this in their books.

Preparations – Topic 3

In our Explore lesson for our new topic ‘Preparations’ children thought about how they prepare for the special time of Christmas. On a tree template they wrote their ideas which then decorated our topic display board. Children then described the Advent wreath and all its meanings.

Signs and Symbols – Topic 2

In our Signs and Symbols topic children have learnt about the different signs and symbols in life and at a Baptism. They found out what each sign and symbol means and have created their own signs for schools and made their own Baptism cards. A Baptism role play has also helped children to remember each action and what is said.

Beginnings – Topic 1

In our Beginnings topic children have explored how God made the world and everything in it. They began by learning the story of Creation and went on to think about how they feel about being one of God’s creations, his ‘children of God’, and how he is with them for their every new beginning. They even wrote their own morning prayer for the beginning of each new day.

Impact – Year 3

Choices – Topic 8

We explored, discussed and compared with others our own and their ideas about choices having consequences, explored and discussed the actions of the two sons, giving reasons for what they said and did, discussed the meaning of sin and the examination of conscience, we retold the story of the Prodigal son making some links to Christian beliefs and actions, we reflected upon the meaning of the Act of Sorrow using this to write our own prayer of sorrow, described the Sacrament of Reconciliation and described and gave examples of ways that people with religious beliefs behave in their everyday lives.

Energy – Topic 7

We explored, discussed and compared with others our own and their ideas about choices having consequences, explored and discussed the actions of the two sons, giving reasons for what they said and did, discussed the meaning of sin and the examination of conscience, we retold the story of the Prodigal son making some links to Christian beliefs and actions, we reflected upon the meaning of the Act of Sorrow using this to write our own prayer of sorrow, described the Sacrament of Reconciliation and described and gave examples of ways that people with religious beliefs behave in their everyday lives.

Giving All – Topic 6

We explored, discussed and compared with others our own and their ideas about how people give of themselves, described some ways in which religious belief is ‘lived out’, described ways in which I can be giving, saying why I and others would be, described ways in which I can live out The Beatitudes, we retold the Gethsemane story, we retold one of the Sorrowful Mysteries and we also retold the Resurrection story.

Listening and Sharing – Topic 5

We explored, discussed and compared with others our own and their ideas about listening and sharing with one another, described what happens as the parish family gathers for Mass, giving reasons for some of the actions, signs and symbols, described parts of the Gloria and how I might live these out, we retold a Gospel story, described what happens during the Preparation of the Gifts, described what happens during the Eucharistic Prayer and described what happens during the Communion Rite.

Journeys – Topic 4

We explored, discussed and compared with others my own and their ideas about ‘A journey through a year’, described and gave some examples of how Christians live their lives throughout the liturgical year, described the two special seasons of the Church’s year , we retold some of the feasts of Our Lady, we described ways in which I can live out the words within a psalm and we talked about and describe different prayers and hymns.

Visitors – Topic 3

We explored, discussed and compared with others our own and their ideas about the demands and joys of visitors, designed symbols for a Jesse tree, described what it was Isaiah wanted the people do and why this was, described ways in which I can live out St. Paul’s message, we retold the Annunciation and/or Visitation story and also described some feelings and actions of those involved in the Nativity story.

Promises – Topic 2

We explored our own and each other’s ideas about how belonging to a group involves promises and rules, what happens at a Baptism, giving reasons for some of the actions, signs and symbols, we retold the story of the Baptism of Jesus and the story of a saint’s life, learned the three promises made at Baptism and we described the responsibilities of a parent during and after (guiding / caring in faith) a Baptism.

Homes – Topic 1

We explored our own and each other’s’ ideas about being a family at home, how we live out: ‘’one in love, one in heart, one in mind’,” ways in which parents and children love and respect one another, the actions of Mary and Joseph as loving parents, ways in which I can live out the words ‘Love one another’ and ways in which we can live out the message of St. Paul.

Impact – Year 4

New Life – Topic 8

Good News brings new life was a key theme throughout the topic. The class learnt the story of Pentecost and how the gifts of the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the strength to spread Good News to others.

Self Discipline – Topic 7

In this topic, the children discussed self-discipline and what it means. We further discussed how this is relevant to Lent and how Christians use self-discipline during the 1Lentern period .

Giving and Receiving  – Topic 6

The gift of the eucharist and the celebration of mass were learnt about. The Introductory Rite, Penitential Rite and the Our Father prayer were discussed and, their role and purpose within the mass.

Community – Topic 5

The idea of community to each child was reflected upon. The children then learnt about the role of Christians as they live out their lives as apostles of Jesus. We examined various ways that Christians serve their community and discussed the reasons for their actions.

Other Faiths – Topic 4

The children were visited by two members of the local Jewish community. We talked about and looked at The Torah and how it is created and looked after. The children also learnt about Bat mitvahs and Bar mitzvahs.

Gifts – Topic 3

The children discussed what they thought was so special about gifts. They described how they can prepare for Jesus, God’s gift to the world, giving some reasons for their actions.
Part of this topic was taught through the nativity play.

Called – Topic 2

through Baptism and Confirmation people are given the gift of the Holy Spirit and are called to respond in their lives.

Children will know and understand:

• The response to being chosen

• Confirmation: a call to witness

People – Topic 1

The children focussed on their own family tree and that of Jesus. They looked at the role of Joseph in the family of Jesus and thought about what he would look like. The family tree of Abraham was studied, looking at the role of Jacob, concluding with Ruth’s story.

Impact – Year 5

Freedom and Responsibility – Topic 8

In this topic, we have explored the Ten Commandments and how we can live these out. We have also thought about how being sin free brings us a lot of responsibility and how we can best use this responsibility. We have thought about what it looks like to be a child of God and how we can help others to do this as well.

Transformation – Topic 7

In this topic, we delved deeper into the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit that were given to us when Jesus went back to heaven. We talked about how we can live these out in our lives and how we can

Sacrifice – Topic 6

In this topic, we spent time focusing on Lent and how and why Christians celebrate Lent and what this means to them. We also discussed why Easter is important for Christians and we celebrated our Passion Play, where we retold the story of Easter.

Memorial Sacrifice – Topic 5

In this topic, we began our build up to Easter and the momentous sacrifice Jesus would make for us. We explored what happened into the lead up to Jesus’ death and how the people around him acted and why. We also focused on the Last Supper and discussed how Jesus showed the disciples what he wanted them to be like when he was gone.

Mission – Topic 4

In this topic, we explored more into what God has called us to do in our lives – our mission. We discussed how to be a disciple of God and learnt more about our diocese and what our school mission statement ‘We Value All in the Name of Jesus the Christ’ means.

Hope – Topic 3

In this topic, we began our build up to Advent. We read about The Anunciation when Mary visited Elizabeth and discussed why this was significant. We explored some artwork which represented Jesus being the light of the world and described how Christians celebrate Advent with a wreath and what this signifies.

Life Choices – Topic 2

In this topic, we built on our learning about the ways we are unique and discussed how we can use these in our lives to affect others and ourselves. We explored how we can be God’s disciples and what qualities we need to have to do this.

Ourselves – Topic 1

In this topic, we discussed how God made us all in his image and likeness while still making us unique. We all have amazing individual personality traits and qualities that make us who we are that we can share with others.

Impact – Year 6

Healing – Topic 8

To begin this topic, we have discussed the meaning of ‘Healing’ and what it means to us. We have looked at the hospices provided for those that are at the end of life- the care needed to provide these families.

We read the story of the blind man, that had his sight restored, due to his faith in Jesus- guiding us to see that it is our beliefs that can make us stronger.

We are creating a list of questions for our visitor, who is blind, to understand the true meaning of needing healing.

Witnesses – Topic 7

Our next topic on ‘Witnesses’, helped us to understand the true meaning of what a witness really is.

At the start of this topic, we used a debate to find out whether it was better to be a witness or not; using conscience alley as our tool for reflection. Following on from this, we studied how the disciples were able to continue God’s work as witnesses to the miracles that Jesus performed while on earth. Discussions and readings from the bible helped us to understand the doubts that aroused from those that were not strong in the faith and how God guided them and forgave them.

As a class we reflected on the word ‘courage’ and shared our ideas in groups. In our studies, we watched clips on Paschal Uche and Mrs Maricho; how their courage and determination guided them as modern day witnesses to do God’s work and make a difference in the lives of everyone. In addition to this, we learned about the missionary work that Fr Balashowry provided for the children living on the streets and how this corresponds to the work in our local areas- Christians inspired by the Holy Spirit who witness to the love of God by their care for those in need.

To finalise our topic, we showed our understanding that ‘witness’ means to be more like the disciples and spread the Good News. Linking this back to scripture and reading stories written in different ways from witnesses: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Death and Newlife Topic – 6

Our next topic of Death and New Life, focused on sorrow and loss. We reflected on those that are no longer with us yet we keep them in our hearts. Many questions were explored to understand how loss and death bring about change for people. We created our own prayers, reflecting on the lentern journey, linking this to our own experiences and other scripture-‘You have created us out of the dust of earth, ‘ Colossians 1:15.

We described the ‘bread if life’ and gave reasons for the actions that are carried out during mass. We explored the words used by Jesus and what it means to Christians today- teaching his followers that he alone is their true source of spiritual life.

We annotated the words of God’s story 3 (John 12:24-25) to use our inference skills to understand the grain of wheat is only one grain as it shows us that God and Jesus see us all equally.

Unity – Topic 5

Many links were made during this topic- we started by looking at the word ‘unity’ and deciding what the true meaning was. We were then able to link it to community, communion and Eucharist. We created a piece of artwork based on the Eucharistic prayer. We then added the stages of the offertory and explained how they linked to unity.

We then looked at how the Lord’s Prayer invites us to address God in union with Jesus himself.

Furthermore, we understood the importance of praying for and showing peace to help us become unified as a community. We share the sign of peace with those near us as we shake hands to show we are connected to other members of God’s community.

We explored a range of songs to infer how their verses show unity and peace with one another, linking them to scripture.

Finally, after we had deliberated the words, ‘Lamb of God’, we worked in groups, to develop a liturgy focusing on Holy Communion.

Local Church and Community – Topic 4

We began this topic by sorting books into groups of genres, to understand the concept that the bible is not just one book, but made up of 66 books. In relation to this, we found that there are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.

Upon looking at the collection of authors, that wrote the stories in the bible, we practised how to find the scriptures presented to us. We reflected on the differences between each of their stories and how this related to the fact that the stories were written many years after they happened, so parts may have been added.

We wrote our own stories and poems about our time in Year 6, showing expectations of ourselves and others to do well in school.

Included in this topic was the Dead Sea Scrolls. We researched to find that they had been discovered over a period of ten years between 1946 and 1956 which among the Scrolls were partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible. These findings presented disagreement, however, about many other aspects of these texts, including which communities were represented and how those communities may have interacted with one another.

Expectations – Topic 3

Our next topic of Expectations, we explored and discussed the expectations upon Christians during Advent and how these shape lives in different ways. We were able to link these to further scripture and relate to our own experiences. We discussed the meaning of the word ‘expectation’ and described the expectations that we have of ourselves and that others have of us and recognise why having expectations are good, linking this to a scripture.

Also, we explored a range of images of Mary and how these images shape the lives of Christians and the expectations placed on her. The significance of the Hail Mary became clear as we explored the prayer.

We furthered our studies by learning about John the Baptist and his expectations, as he baptised the people in the River Jordan (Mark 1:1-5).

To finalise our topic on expectations we used religious sources to produce a guide for others on how they can ‘watch and wait expectantly’ during Advent. We looked at:

During Advent Christians should pray daily because Christians believe that prayer will bring them closer to God and communicate how grateful they are for the gift of Jesus Christ and his example on earth.    Christians will seek forgiveness through confession because they believe making reparations they make will show God that they truly want to do their very best to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and that they know that they will make mistakes but God will still love and forgive them.  This prepares them to enjoy the season in God’s love.

Christians will make an Advent Wreath because each candle represents something specific that we think about each of the Sundays of the Advent season.  The circle of the wreath reminds of the never ending love of God.  It will help Christians to focus on particular parts of the story of Christ’s birth during the Advent season.  Christians will set up a nativity scene because it helps to show them that they are celebrating the birth of Jesus and will focus them on this.

Christians will have an Advent Calendar or Jesse tree because this will remind them that they are looking forward with hope to the birth of Jesus.  The Jesse tree brings them to the Bible readings linked to the birth of Christ and encourage them to read the Bible every day in the lead up to Christmas.

Christians will plan gifts to give to those close because people brought gifts to the baby Jesus and they want to bring joy to others in their family and community.  Christians will plan to be with their family and to attend services with their church family because this will strengthen their prayers to God and remind them of what is truly of value in their lives; giving and receiving love, peace and goodwill.

Christians will give time or money to charities because they want to share love with others and try to bring joy to others in the world.  Jesus brought joy to the world through his birth and Christians want to prepare people to enjoy the Christmas period in celevration.  This will mean that people might appreciate what following Jesus can do to help everyone.  Sharing the news of Jesus’ birth at this time might bring more people to following him.

Christians will plan time to celebrate and enjoy the season because they believe it is a very special time that brought Jesus to the earth and marks the beginning of the Christian religion.

Vocation and Commitment – Topic 2

Our second topic in RE is called Vocation and Commitment. We explored what the word ‘commitment’ truly meant and how we relate it to real life experiences: firefighters, teachers, doctors, charity workers and parents. This understanding helped us to see how Christians fulfil their baptismal promises by answering God’s call through their chosen vocations: bishops, priests, nuns, monks, missionaries. We looked at the prayers and vows that are made during the ordination. In view of this, we watched the whole procession of a priest being ordained and learned the symbols and actions that were carried out during this service. We were able to explain the reasons for these symbols and actions and linked them to further scripture and psalms; understanding how our own commitments reflected upon this.

In our studies, we researched a chosen saint and presented our findings to the class. We were able to explain their calling from God and how they continue to make an impact today. We then reflected on what our missions could be and how we could serve others in the way that God has called us.

Information – Topic 1

Our first topic in RE is called Loving. We explored real life experiences of unconditional love and how these experiences made us feel. We reflected on how others treat us when we do wrong- forgiving us with the guidance and influence from God. We were then able to make links with our faith; showing how our beliefs and values affect our love and care of each other.

In groups, we acted out scenes to show our understanding of unconditional love.

We wrote a letter to Paul, thanking him for sharing his story when he turned from bad to good; inspired by the love from God. In addition to this, we looked at the story of ‘The Prodigal Father’, as we acted out a scene from court, deciding whether it was right that the son be accepted back into the family after pouring away all his money.

We learned about Beatitudes and how they are linked to showing love and kindness to others. We ended this topic by creating posters of unconditional love, to spread the Good News.