Unpacking the Treasures of RE

Many teachers in Catholic schools are excited by the rich teaching content provided by the new Religious Education Directory, ‘To know you more clearly’. But across both primary and secondary schools, there are also plenty of teachers who feel daunted or even overwhelmed. In grappling with the depth and nuance of Catholic Theology, they also feel the responsibility and challenge of making it accessible to their pupils or students.

We know how busy teachers are, so the videos are short – between 5 and 10 minutes in length. Our aim is for RE Teachers across both primary and secondary schools, to make use of these videos that offer a ‘big picture’ vision of the key themes in Catholic RE. They lay a foundation and present an engaging way to prepare for teaching the content recommended by the school or diocesan RE Programme.

In addition, for Catholic Life and CPD leads, RE Deep Dive provides options for new staff training, briefings and INSET days.

To meet these different needs and to help teachers navigate their way through the video content, we have developed three distinct pathways. Two of these are aimed at teachers of RE and one at Catholic Life formation.

The Pathways

1. Primary and secondary school teachers of RE can follow the Curriculum Pathway which links to the RED model curriculum. This presents a set of videos tailored to the branch and year group content for each half-term. RE Leads or Heads of Department can also use this pathway to plan department or staff training.
2. For a broader approach, teachers can browse our Knowledge Lens Pathway to focus on the themes or speakers that most interest them –  from Catholic Social Teaching presented by Raymond Friel, Revelation by David Wells, Salvation and Eternal Life by Fr Christopher Jamison OSB or Prophecy presented by Mariah Wilde.
3. Chaplains and staff responsible for Catholic Life formation could use our Catholic Foundations Pathway with courses such as Foundations of the Catholic Faith, Discover the Story of Salvation or Understand the Sacraments. Specific videos could be used within staff meetings or CPD sessions and courses can be recommended to help onboard new staff or as part of general staff formation.

We are incredibly excited about the flexibility these pathways offer and look forward to the impact that RE Deep Dive will have on our Catholic schools.