Religious Education
Religious Education
Come and See has been the Religious Education (RE) programme recommended by the Bishops of England and Wales and provides the basis for RE lessons throughout the school. It gives children a lively and engaging curriculum where they are able to learn through a variety of experiences and activities. We are in the process of moving over to the new Religious Education Directory, commencing with EYFS in September 2023, incorporating additional year groups as the year progresses to ensure all children are studying the new curriculum by the deadline of September 2025. We are working with Northampton Diocese and our local Catholic Cluster of Milton Keynes to develop resources to support, enhance and enrich the new curriculum. Our RE leader is the spokesperson for the local cluster, reporting back to the Diocese regarding the implementation of the newly developed resources.
Besides the formal RE syllabus, every opportunity is taken to ensure the message of the Gospel shines through all the work of the school. Our Christian Virtues Curriculum and our focus on Catholic Social Teaching in addition to our RSHE programme, give our children a clear understanding of how to live out our mission of, 'Loving, Serving and Growing Together with Jesus'.
Religious Education plays a central and vital part in the life of faith in our Catholic school. It is the foundation for all learning and as such is the core subject in our school. We believe firmly that RE permeates every aspect of our curriculum, as, by helping children to understand more fully the world around them, they will come to a deeper understanding of God and of their fellow human beings. This vision shapes the daily life of our school as a community.
To read more about the Come and See curriculum and how it is delivered, read the documents below:
Come and See Information for Advent Term 2022
from here
The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4: 31-32)
“What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?” asked Jesus. “What parable shall we use to explain it? It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground. After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade.”
We had a whole school RE day. All of the children, across the school took part in a Mustard Seed Story day led by the super actors from Rise Theatre and experienced the most wonderful songs, stories, prayers, drama and art activities. They then took part in a pre-recorded interactive show: using the creations they had made; the prayers they wrote on their prayer birds; and sang the songs they had learnt throughout the day. It was so lovely to speak to the children about this and some of the children in Year 1 said it was the best day they ever had! I could hear the most wonderful singing coming from the children’s classrooms all the day. Ask your child to sing The Warrior Song and The Miracle Song to you. We explored the parable and now have a better understanding of Jesus’ intentions when he shared this parable with his followers; we are unique and special and we have so much to give, no matter how small we start off.
Photos from The Mustard Seed Story Day
We are St. Bernadette's
Our Year 3 and 4 pupils have prepared Easter Reflections for you with song, action and word.
Please click on the classes named below to see their Easter Reflections:
St Bernadette's school family wish you and your loved ones a blessed and happy Easter Season.
Please share this presentation about Holy Week and Easter Sunday with your children at home.
Please see below for 'Virtual Family Prayer Bag' for the Easter Triduum provided by the Diocese of Northampton to support your family reflections at home.
Please see below for 'Virtual Family Prayer Bag' for Palm Sunday provided by the Diocese of Northampton to support your family reflections at home.
Weekly Gospel Reflection
UPDATE: St. Bernadette's Walked for Water!
On Saturday 20th February, we are asked to join CAFOD’s Lenten campaign by going for a walk in solidarity with people who have to walk long distances to collect clean water for their families. We hope that we can raise money as a school family, which we will then send to CAFOD to support their invaluable work in bringing easy access to water for such communities.
If your child and your family do take part in the walk and would like to donate to CAFOD, you can do this by making a donation through School Gateway Payments. If you are happy to share photos of your walk with the school and with CAFOD, please do email them over to Mrs Pughe along with the completed consent form that has been sent out previously. PugheJ@stbernadettesschool.com
Please see below for 'Virtual Family Prayer Bag' provided by the Diocese of Northampton to support your family reflections at home.
HOPE - A Carol Service
The whole school community worked together to retell the story of the nativity through singing, acting and scripture. We are very proud of the wonderful talents of our children. We hope that you have a blessed Christmas and a healthy New Year.
Although parents/carers are entitled to withdraw their child from religious education and worship, we encourage all children to participate in RE lessons, assemblies and daily acts of worship.
We firmly believe we are a school community and would hope all children would want to participate in the life of the school.As a Catholic school, we aim to provide a Catholic education for all our pupils. As a Catholic school, Catholic doctrine and practice permeate every aspect of the school’s activity. It is essential that the Catholic character of the school’s education be fully supported by all families in the school. We therefore hope that all parents will give their full, unreserved and positive support for the aims and ethos of the school.
If alternative arrangements are required this must be discussed with the Headteacher.