'Pupils really enjoy their religious education lessons and are enthusiastic about their learning, one pupil telling inspectors, ‘RE is our favourite subject’.

CSI report, October 2025

Religious Education (RE) at St Cuthbert Mayne 

Religious Education at St Cuthbert Mayne is treasured as a core subject and the cornerstone of our whole school curriculum.  It is planned, taught, assessed and monitored with the highest rigour and expectations for all staff and children.  

Each classroom has a prayer table with the appropriate liturgical colours, which displays items personal to the members of that class. Each classroom also has an RE display which demonstrates children's learning that half-term. Each year-group has its own Saint. They learn about their Saint's life and mission and celebrate on their feast day. Father Alistair(parish priest) joins the class on or around their feast day to offer deeper reflection on the life and work of our class saints. Across the school, we also have house groups linked to places of pilgrimage. 

"At the heart of every Catholic school is the person of Jesus Christ....In him alone, we are able to grasp how it can be that apparent paradoxes turn out to be life-giving truths: where the last shall be first (Mt 20:16), where weakness is strength (1 Cor 12:10), and where death leads to life (Mt 16:25)...The purpose of both Catholic schools and Catholic religious education reflects this wisdom."

The Religious Education Directory: To Know You More Clearly 2023 p.9

Learning and Teaching in Religious Education

At St Cuthbert Mayne, we follow the Religious Education Programme: 'Day by Day'. This programme follows the Diocesan syllabus approved by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales and adopted by the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. Children's faith journey and understanding of their current Religious Education unit can be seen around the school.

 The 'Day by Day' programme is structured into six thematic branches, each spanning half a term: 

• Branch 1 – Creation and Covenant
  In this branch, pupils will encounter the God who creates and calls a people. They will explore the revelation of the Christian belief that all that is comes from God, the Creation accounts in Genesis, and scientific explanations of the process of Creation. They will explore the call of God and his covenantal relationship with his people first through Abraham and Moses, then through the narrative of the Old Testament.
• Branch 2 – Prophecy and Promise 
  In this branch, pupils will explore the Christian understanding of the teaching of the prophets as they point to the fulfilment of God’s promise in a messiah, Jesus Christ. They will explore the expectant waiting for the Messiah through the Advent season and how this speaks to Christians today as they wait for Christ. Pupils will encounter the story of the nativity of Jesus and the mystery of the incarnation.
• Branch 3 - Galilee to Jerusalem
  In this branch, pupils will learn about the life of Jesus and his revelation of the Kingdom of God through parables, encounters, miracles, and teachings. They will learn about the call of the disciples and the nature of being a follower of Jesus.
• Branch 4 Desert to Garden
  In this branch, pupils will study the season of Lent and its culmination in the events of Holy Week. They will learn about the Paschal Triduum at the heart of the Catholic Church’s Liturgy and life. The title of this branch points both to the liturgical journey from the desert of Lent to the garden of Resurrection, but also to the Paschal journey from darkness to light, barrenness to fruitfulness, death to life.
• Branch 5 To the ends of the Earth
  In this branch, pupils will study the events that flowed from the Resurrection and Ascension to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work of the apostles and the early Church. They will also learn about the Catholic Church today as the apostolic Church and how its liturgy and structures flow from the early Church.
• Branch 6 Dialogue and Encounter
  In this branch, pupils will learn how Christians work together with people of different religious convictions and all people of goodwill towards the common good, respecting the dignity of all humanity. They will also encounter other pathways of belief drawing on the teaching of the Church about intercultural dialogue. 

The RE curriculum focuses on knowledge lenses that outline expected learning outcomes, divided into four components: hear, believe, live, and celebrate. It also emphasises skill development through "ways of knowing" (understand, discern, and respond), ensuring children gain knowledge and practical application across age phases. 

At each key stage, 10% of the curriculum time is dedicated to RE. This does not include times of Collective Worship.

Catholic Life and Mission

Faith Council

The Faith Council comprises representatives from each class from Years R to Year 6. This group of children focus on developing the spiritual life of the school.  They meet to evaluate the collective worship being delivered by the school. In addition, they reflect on the liturgical season and ways in which the school can develop its Catholicity, collective worship and prayer life and charitable contributions.

Currently, we are working towards achieving the Oscar Romero Award, the Faith in Action Award and the Live Simply Award.

Catholic Social Teaching:

Catholic Social Teaching is woven into the daily life of our pupils at St Cuthbert Mayne. Each week, we ensure that our worship is closely aligned with Catholic virtues and reflect the core identity of our school.

Charity and Fundraising:

To live in an atmosphere of love and mutual respect, it is fundamental that we work to achieve the common good for everyone, locally and globally. At St Cuthbert Mayne, we strive to help others through charity work and fundraising: each term, we participate in whole-school fundraising to donate time, goods and money to a variety of charities. 

Parish and Liturgical seasons:

At St Cuthbert Mayne, we work closely with families and the parish community to ensure that all children are deeply rooted in our Catholic values. The seasons of Advent and Lent are significant times of spiritual preparation for Christmas and Easter, and are marked with great reverence across our school. We place special emphasis on these liturgical seasons by organising fundraising initiatives for charitable causes and offering prayer and activity groups led by dedicated staff volunteers. Regular newsletters are sent home to highlight the importance of these seasons and to encourage family participation.

Collective Worship at St Cuthbert Mayne

In fidelity to the Church’s call to proclaim the Word of God (cf. Dei Verbum, 25), each week begins with a focus on the Gospel and its central theme for the forthcoming Sunday.

This theme is prayerfully explored throughout the school, culminating in an invitation for all members of our community to live out the Gospel message in their daily lives. Through our weekly newsletter, resources shared encourage parents and carers to engage in prayer, reflection, and dialogue with their children, fostering a deeper understanding of how the Gospel can be lived in today’s world.

Prayer:

Daily prayer is at the heart of life at St Cuthbert Mayne, helping children to experience Jesus as a close friend; someone they can trust, seek guidance from, and turn to in times of need. Prayer is an integral part of our daily routine, taking place at the beginning and end of each school day, as well as before lunch.

Our school grounds offer dedicated spaces for quiet reflection and spiritual connection, including a beautifully maintained and serene Prayer Garden.

Masses and Liturgies:

In accordance with the liturgical calendar of the Church, we celebrate the Holy Days of Obligation with Masses and liturgies that bring the school community together in prayer and worship. These celebrations are rooted in the Church’s call to active participation in the liturgy, as affirmed in Sacrosanctum Concilium (14), and are guided by the principles outlined in the Prayer and Liturgy Directory (Catholic Education Service, 2023).

Children play an active role in these celebrations, proclaiming Scripture, leading prayers, participating in liturgical drama, singing hymns, serving at the altar, and presenting the Offertory. This approach reflects the guidance of the Directory for Masses with Children (1973), which encourages meaningful involvement of young people in the liturgy to foster their spiritual growth and understanding.

Masses and liturgies are held either in the school hall or at our parish church, with dates communicated to families through the term calendar. 

Useful websites:

https://www.abeducationservice.org.uk/
https://www.cpg.church/
https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Primary-teaching-resource