Introduction

This is Our Faith provides guidance to teachers on the religious education curriculum which has been developed for children and young people in Catholic schools in Scotland.  In publishing this document, the Church is exercising its rights and duty to determine the content of the religious education curriculum in Catholic schools.

The Church expects teachers in Catholic schools to use this guidance to shape the learning of children and young people in this key area of the curriculum at all stages of primary education and up to Fourth level in secondary school (S3).  It encourages teachers to acquaint themselves thoroughly with this guidance so as to enhance their own understanding of the key aspects of Catholic Christianity which they are expected to teach through the 'experiences and outcomes' for Catholic religious education (RERC), published as part of the Scottish Government’s Curriculum for Excellence framework.

The key sources on which This is Our Faith is based are Sacred Scripture and Tradition (expressed in the teaching documents of the Church), the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) which are referenced throughout the document.

Status of this draft

This is Our Faith is still in draft form and is currently being considered for approval by the Holy See.  This draft has been made available at this time to enable teachers to become familiar with the nature of the guidance which shoud inform their teaching.  It will not be published in any authorised form until final approval has been received.

The Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes published for Catholic religious education are currently provisional and subject to final agreement by the Scottish Government and the Catholic Education Commission. That process, which reflects the statutory position of Catholic schools in Scotland, is ongoing.

Format

The file attached below provides the final draft of the full This is Our Faith document with all the core learning provided for all levels and stages.  (NB This consists of 192 pages.)  At a later point, it will be possible to access some parts of the document, according to level and/or stage.

NB Some additional core learning guidance on 'other world religions' has still to be inserted in section 4.