Religious Education, as part of the Church’s mission of evangelisation, spreads the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Primary Religious Education Curriculum aims to assist students to make sense of life in the light of our connection with God.
It is our role as Christian educators to help our students access the Word of God in the Scriptures, the Church’s living tradition, and in their own lives and experience. In so doing, we prepare our students to celebrate and respond to God’s Word in their living.
Religious Education within a catholic school reaches beyond knowledge and skills, synthesising culture, faith and life. In infants, the curriculum affirms students inherent goodness in likeness of God and engaging the whole person through “hhead, heart and hands’. Primary students follow learning sequences based on 5 Strands:
- Church and Community
- God, Religion and Life
- Morality and Justice
- Prayer, Liturgy and Sacrament
- Scripture and Jesus
The Strands are taught explicitly from Year 3 – Year 10, focusing on accompanying students to know Christ and grow in faith; encounter Jesus as the source of Christian life; and provide opportunities for personal and communal transformation.
Religious Education is not taught in isolation, but as a part of everyday life where students are encouraged to reflect on the message of Jesus and put it into practice. Christian values permeate the whole culture of the school community through:
- Curriculum
- Liturgy
- Sacraments
- Prayer
- Outreach
Students regularly participate in liturgical celebration and prayer services, Students attend church each term for a range of liturgies which may include mass and reconciliation as a class as well as whole school masses on feast days and holy days throughout the year. Our school year always begins with an Opening and Commissioning liturgy for the whole school community and concludes with our graduation and End of Year Liturgy.
The school supports the parish sacramental program and students are invited through the parish to participate. In most curcumstances candidates will receive the sacraments in the following order:
- Confirmation:8 and up (Year3)
- Reconciliation: 8 and up (Year 4)
- Holy Communion: 8 and up (Year 4/5)
Social Justice and Outreach programs are an active part of school life. We have a strong outreach program that supports global, diocesan and local initiatives. These include Caritas through ‘Project Compassion’, Catholic Mission, Socktober and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS).
Our connection with the St Vincent DePaul Society is extremely strong supporting both their winter and Christmas appeals.