Year One

Our Religious Education Journey

Our Religious Education curriculum follows the six branches of the Religious Education Directory, To know You more clearly. Each branch is revisited every year, enabling children to build upon what they already know and develop an increasingly deep understanding of Scripture, Catholic belief and the life of the Church.

Year One – Revelation: How do people know about God?

Year One begins with the idea of revelation: how people come to know God. Children encounter God through Creation and then through Jesus, before following an age-appropriate journey through Jesus' life, death and Resurrection and encountering the Holy Spirit.

Branch	Children learn about…
Creation & Covenant	Genesis and the Christian belief that everything comes from God; God as Father; prayer; Laudato Si' and our responsibility to care for Creation.
Prophecy & Promise	The Annunciation and Nativity according to St Luke; Mary's “Yes”; angels as God's messengers; the Hail Mary.
Galilee to Jerusalem	Jesus growing up and beginning his mission; the call of the disciples; Jesus welcoming children and Zacchaeus; Jesus as the Son of God and “light to all nations”.
Desert to Garden	Jesus in the desert; Lent; Jesus entering Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Crucifixion, empty tomb and Resurrection.
To the Ends of the Earth	The Road to Emmaus, Ascension and Pentecost; the Holy Spirit transforming the apostles and the beginning of the Church's mission.
Dialogue & Encounter	The local and worldwide Christian family; the cross and Sign of the Cross; the parish church and community; an introduction to Jewish life and the Torah.

By the end of Year One pupils are expected to recognise connections between Jesus' message and how Christians live, between Scripture and prayer, and between Scripture and the Church's liturgical year.

How the learning grows

Reception: I encounter, wonder, listen and retell.
Years 1–2: I recognise, retell and begin to make connections.
Years 3–4: I describe, explain and make increasingly meaningful connections.
Years 5–6: I use theological vocabulary, explain, compare, interpret, discern and justify my thinking.

The RED describes three Ways of Knowing: Understand, Discern and Respond, which develop alongside increasingly rich subject knowledge. Pupils, therefore, do not simply learn more religious facts as they move through Sacred Heart: they become increasingly able to understand what they encounter, think critically and creatively about it, and consider its meaning and significance.