Other Faiths
Although we are a Catholic school, we believe it is very important that pupils learn to respect the faiths and beliefs which others hold.
The teaching of ‘Other Faiths’ is important for our children because:
Learning about the religion and cultures of those who do not share the Catholic faith is one of the ways in which we embody the call ‘to love one’s neighbour’.
We seek, through the learning of other faiths to try to understand better the religion of our neighbours, and to experience something of their religious life and culture.
Many of the children in Catholic schools are practicing members of other faiths and our schools need to be places of love and respect for all our children. It is an act of respect and courtesy that our curriculum helps them to reflect on the nature of their own religious identity.
It prepares the pupils in our Catholic schools for life in a modern Britain, giving them an understanding of the beliefs of others. This in turn will improve social cohesion and contribute to the common good by increasing mutual respect between those of different religions.
The Church calls us to be committed to respecting people from other religions and to recognise that God is at work within them, our brothers and sisters. Pupils are encouraged not merely to learn facts about other religions but to also reflect upon them and gain insight from them. Children are taught to be respectful and understanding of people and traditions from other faith backgrounds.
Before implementing the new 'To Know You More Clearly' programme, we followed Come and See. Through the delivery of this programme, the children explicitly learnt about other faiths such as Judaism and Islam. Moving forward, this will be taught throughout Branch 6 of the new curriculum. But we will also explore and make comparisons between faiths through the delivery of our other branches.
How else will we do this?
Catholic Social Teaching
Gospel Values
British Values
Protected Characteristics
Curriculum and enrichment activities
