Religious Education

In Blessed Mother Teresa’s Catholic Primary School community we will ‘learn to live and grow in faith by following Jesus. We want every child to be happy and enthusiastic learners of RE, and to be eager to achieve their very best in order to fulfil their Godgiven talents, central to the life of our happy, caring family school. 

As a Catholic school, all pupils are educated in the beliefs and devotional practices of the Catholic Church. Participation in daily collective acts of worship remains at heart of each day. Every class prepares and leads Mass, with parents, families and parishioners warmly welcomed.

Curriculum

Parents and carers are advised that, in desiring a Catholic education for their child, it is expected that all pupils will participate in RE lessons. All pupils learn about other religions and cultures and are encouraged to show respect and acknowledgement for the beliefs of others through open discussion and shared experiences. We follow the Archdiocese of Birmingham curriculum document: Learning and growing as people of God. 

Religious Education is taught for 10% of curriculum time which is 2.5 hours per week

Collective Worship

Quality experiences of collective worship, prayer and liturgy, support pupils’ spiritual development. Communal acts of prayer and liturgical celebrations of the Church form part of everyday life and experience in our school. Everyone, child and adult, are given the opportunity to pray by giving praise and thanks to God using traditional prayers of the Catholic Church and many other sources of prayer that enable this to take place. We encourage everyone to nurture a personal relationship with God through words, symbols, song, gestures and silence. Prayer is such an integral part of school life that takes place in a wide variety of contexts but all follow a recognised struture: 

Gather:

We begin or enter – this could be to music, singing together, saying a prayer or just a quiet moment. We aim to create an atmosphere of prayer.

Listen:

This is a reading from scripture or sometimes another focus based on scripture. We pause at times for quiet contemplation.

Respond:

This is what we do in response to the scripture.  It may be quiet reflection, a formal or informal prayer or responding to bidding prayers. We may also do something such as placing a pebble or other marker on the collective worship display or share our thoughts.

Go Forth:

We help those present to take the message away with them – prayer card, picture, common prayer, action etc.

Scaraments

School is privalledge to support children, parents and the parish in supporting and preparing the children for the Sacrament of first Holy Communion (in year three traditionally) and Confirmation (in year 6 traditionally). The whole school community play a role in this important time for our children and special units within the curriuclum help them understand their importance and significance.

Our School Name

St Teresa of Calcutta ( formally known as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta) is our School patron saint. From a young age she was a fiesty and determined Catholic. Her life led her to care for 'the poorest of the poor' and she believed everyone deserved dignity and respect. A truely modern day saint to inspire our whole school community.

In addition to learning about St Teresa, each class has their own special saint to focus on and enjoy learning about the saint and praying to them for help and support. 

Our Parish Church 

The parish of St Austin's is our church, Canon Michael Neylon is our parish priest and his support and care is valued greatly by our whole school community. Mass is celebrated in school each week and children have the opportunity to visit church regualrly. 

   Canon Michael Neylon 

St Austin's Catholic Church