Department: Religious Education

Head of Department: Mrs D Palfreyman

If you wish to learn more about the curriculum, please contact the Head of Department by email: ­­­­d.palfreyman@oaklandscatholicschool.org

Catholic Social Teaching

1.Dignity of the Human Person – Within the curriculum each year group have topics which lead them to consider the unique place we, as humans, have in God’s creation, and the respect we are therefore due. This includes study of scripture and Church teaching to understand the foundations of these beliefs. In Year 7 students begin the year by studying ‘Creation and Covenant’, exploring Genesis 1 & 2 and what it means to have been created and loved by God. This is taken further in Year 8 as students consider the work of CAFOD in supporting the basic needs of humanity. At GCSE students study a number of topics that consider the beginning of life and the value of the unborn child through to the end of life decisions that medical technology has made possible and the morality of these. This continues into medical ethics for those studying A Level and RSE for all following the PRE RE programme.
Of equal importance is the way that staff and students interact, modelling positively the relationships and dignity we are all due.

1.Peace – Peace comes from within, and thus before the curriculum is taught, RE staff are effective in creating caring and nurturing learning environments where students feel able to study and grow in self-belief. To create peace, all people must learn to accept the rights of every individual. Thus the learning opportunities provided to students to facilitate this include: Key Stage 3 has a focus on the core beliefs within our Catholic faith and the impact this has on our interactions with each other, including diversity of belief yet meaningful dialogue between denominations and faiths; Key Stage 4 also touches implicitly and explicitly on the nature and importance of peace as one of the key teachings in Christianity ; Year 12 A Level study War and Peace, including the pacifistic ideals of Jesus and many Christians.

3. The Common Good – Commitment to the Common Good means respecting the rights and responsibilities of all people. No one should miss out on the opportunity to flourish and grow. As Acts 2 43-47 tells us, we should do all in our power to provide the necessities for those who are lacking. In RE this means ensuring all students receive their right to a high calibre education and with this comes the responsibility to allow all in the class to access this work. Therefore, our focus on and provision for SEND students is paramount. Within the curriculum across all year groups and key stages we work closely with the SENCO, including our SEND champion, and utilise a variety of methods to implement recommendations. These include, task lists, key word lists, seating in class, use of laptops, coloured photocopies, scaffolded and differentiated worksheets, modelled answers and targeted revision materials and workshops.

4. The Option for the Poor – Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Gospel narratives of the life of Jesus, we see many examples of God’s special concern for the poor and the powerless. This reading of scripture developed with Liberation theologians during the 1960’s and is very much evident in the thinking of Pope Francis who comments that “where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable” the principle of the common good is “a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters.” (Laudato Si). Students are exposed to this concept in numerous parts of the curriculum including: Year 7 the concept and practice of langar in Sikhism; Year 8 the parable of the Good Samaritan and love of neighbour; Year 9 human rights and the genocide in Rwanda plus the healing miracles of Jesus; Year 10 the work of various charities including CAFOD and SVP; Year 11 the rights of those vulnerable at the end of life through the study of euthanasia and palliative care; Year 12/13 New Testament study of the parables of the Kingdom.

5. Solidarity – For the RE Department, solidarity works on two levels: 1) the responsibility of states in a more interdependent world and 2) Christ’s birth, death and resurrection as the ultimate model of solidarity for Christians. Hence the elements of the RE curriculum which support this include: Key Stage 3 every year group follows a common pattern of topics beginning with creation and covenant and ending with dialogue and encounter thus exploring the beliefs that unite us as a Catholic faith as well as the sources of our faith such as the Nicene creed. Year 10 read Gaudium et Spes 26 such as ‘Every day human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and spreads by degrees over the whole world. As a result, the common good, that is, the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfilment, today takes on an increasingly universal complexion and consequently involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family’ in order to allow students to understand the interconnected nature of our global family. Further to this Year 11 explore key Catholic beliefs about life after death including heaven, hell and purgatory and Year 12/13 A Level students focus in New Testament on the question ‘why did Jesus have to die?’

6. Dignity of Work – The Catholic Church believes that work is more than simply a way to earn money – it’s a way to participate in God’s creation. Examples of where students are exposed to this concept in the RE curriculum include: Year 8 consider the Parable of the Good Samaritan; Year 9 look at sweat shops, working conditions and pay; Year 10 explore love of neighbour and supporting scripture to help them consider our use of money and resources for the benefit of others as well as the Sabbath as a day of rest from work.

7. Care for God’s creation –Care for creation is rooted in our earliest scripture where we read in Genesis of God making the universe and all that is in it, simply by the power of His words. We also learn that God’s creation is to be valued since not only does He proclaim it to be ‘good’ but he places a responsibility of care upon us when he tells Adam and Eve,
“Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground”. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food”. (Genesis 1:28-29)
As Christians we believe that the role of dominion God places upon us should be exercised through stewardship. As such, the elements of the RE curriculum which support this include: Year 7 a study of the Genesis creation stories; Year 8 creation and the Fall; Year 10 consider the Jewish views on God as creator and sustainer as well as the key moral principle of tikkun olam (healing the world); Year 10 also consider how the world is being damaged and what the potential responses to this are through their study of ‘Origins and Meaning’, including Pope Francis’ teaching in Laudato Si; Year 12 in Ethics research Christian and secular perspectives on how we view the world and subsequently the way(s) we treat it, including creation spirituality of St Francis of Assisi, End Time Theology and the Gaia Hypothesis.

The strategies we use in RE lessons to help students develop an understanding of CST include (although are not definitive):
1. Study of source texts, including scripture and papal encyclicals such as Laudato Si
2. Use of videos and animations such as CAFOD’s CST in 3 minutes
3. Discussion and use of contemporary examples/case studies (classrooms have a news board which may at times have articles relating to the environment, poverty, abuse of human rights, etc)
4. For some groups we have used the CST card packs from CAFOD where students have to rationalise, group and match the CST concepts, scripture/sources and application