Education consultant Edmund Adamus explains what the Catholic Education Service’s new directory will mean for Catholic schools in England and Wales
Earlier this week, the Catholic Education Service (CES) launched the latest and long-awaited version of the Religious Education Directory (RED) for Catholic schools, colleges and academies in England and Wales. The new directory replaces previous editions published in 1996 and 2012. The requirement that Religious Education (RE) must take up at least 10 per cent of curriculum time up to age 16 in all 2,175 Catholic schools and academies, and 5 per cent in sixth form colleges, remains in place.
The new directory entitled To Know You More Clearly sets out the purpose of RE from Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 9 (age 13/14). It features a programme of study with a model curriculum corresponding to the six half-terms of the school year. The six themes, or “branches”, are loosely built around the liturgical calendar. The directory does not prescribe exactly how teachers should deliver this curriculum, but expects that teachers choose to think of each branch as a half term’s worth of work.
Philip Robinson, RE Adviser for the CES, says: “The new RE Directory has been updated to reflect The Identity Of The Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue”, an instruction issued by the Vatican dicastery for education and culture in 2022. Much of the content draws on the constitutions of the Second Vatican Council and is rooted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The aim is to enable pupils to become more religiously literate so that they have the knowledge, understanding and skills to reflect spiritually, think ethically and theologically, as well as recognise what religious commitment demands in everyday life.
As one RE expert put it: “The approach breeds familiarity with the Bible, the Catechism and encyclicals from a young age so that these sources and authorities become an everyday part of life.”
The expectations are high throughout, though in an age-appropriate manner. A lot is expected of older pupils which some may say is unrealistic, but many good Catholic teachers firmly believe that most children can grapple with profound ideas, and that those who can, should be pushed to do so. I myself have read some theologically eloquent writing by GCSE RE students and as I note in my article in the Catholic Herald February education supplement called “Children need to know that the Church is not anti-science”, presenting demanding and complicated words to children can instil new confidence and hope for greater achievement, giving them what the renowned educationalist Mary Myatt calls an “intellectual passport”.
I contacted a number of Catholic RE teachers about the directory and the feedback was very positive.
“The pattern or structure of ‘understand, discern, respond’ is excellent,” said one teacher. “It means that pupils will have good factual knowledge and be well-catechised, and they will think critically and reflect upon what difference the ideas should or might make in their own lives and in the world.”
Another wrote: “It is academically rigorous without losing sight of the fact that it is people we are educating and helping to form. It’s possible in RE for one of these aspects to be emphasised over the other and you’re left either with lessons that are intellectually heavy and don’t touch people’s lives, or wishy-washy discussions that lack intellectual strength; the RED requires both.”
While nurturing the faith of Catholic pupils, the curriculum prepares all pupils to play their part as critical citizens in a plural and diverse culture. It develops in them a dialogical attitude, through the content that is presented and through the modelling of respectful dialogue in class, a particularly powerful witness in a context where social media has had such a detrimental impact on the civility of public discourse.
Many RE teachers are already highly skilled and experienced in inculcating respectful dialogue in their classes because they instinctively know that the Church proposes rather than imposes her vision for human flourishing and, as such, they are at the vanguard of nurturing this missionary endeavour.
Bishop Marcus Stock, Chair of the CES, said: “Religious education plays its part by enabling all pupils to be confident and secure in their religious faith, and knowledgeable and respectful of other religions, so they can play a crucial role in building a cohesive society.”
Topics covered include the relationship between faith and science; the problem of evil; the nature of human freedom; rights of the unborn; the plight of refugees and asylum seekers; war and peace.
However, it is disappointing that despite the directory referring to the dignity of the person and body, and the moral implications of this in line with the Catechism, a CES spokesperson confirmed that “the term theology of the body [is] not used”. This, in my view and that of many educators and parents as well as clergy, seems a pity, given the increasing interest in and popularisation of Pope St. John Paul II’s catechesis on human love, and in the light of what Philip Robinson states is the fact that “contemporary culture has become ever more shaped by the secularism and ethical relativism referred to by Pope Saint John Paul II in Tertio Millennio Adveniente”.
There is a focus on the beauty of Catholicism and its influence on culture through art, music, literature, science and architecture, which will hopefully equip young people to engage with the Church beyond intellectual remits and approach the transcendent.
The publication of To Know You More Clearly comes at time when the Bishops Conference is also producing a Prayer and Liturgy Directory for Catholic schools that will set out clearly the principles and norms for Catholic prayer and liturgy. This guidance is intended in the first place for all who are directly involved in overseeing and facilitating prayer and liturgy in schools, as well as being as a resource for formation.
Alongside the new and more exacting Catholic Schools Inspection Framework, there has never been a better time for those responsible for Catholic identity, mission and purpose in our schools, especially those in senior leadership, to be more unapologetically Catholic and not be timid in embracing a radical orthodoxy to promote and support an authentic new evangelisation.
To this end, a series of training workshops on To Know You More Clearly are also being planned to take place throughout the year and there will be expert input at the forthcoming annual conference of the Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education [ATCRE] in March at Hagley Catholic High School, Hagley which anyone can attend. More information can be found here: https://www.atcre.co.uk/events
Andy Lewis, a founder member of ATCRE, sums it up well: “The RED provides a really good opportunity to ensure we are providing something academically rigorous and authentically faithful. The resources that will be provided to support it will ensure that RE will be at the core of the core of the curriculum, matching other subjects in ambition and challenge. It’s an exciting moment for Catholic Religious Education.”
Edmund P Adamus is education consultant to A Fertile Heart and recruitment director at Emmaus Leadership
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.