Religious Education
Enhancing learning and ensuring all in our care, come to know Christ, love learning and be the very best they can be. (Towards 2025 Learning Improvement Program)
The K-12 Religious Education Curriculum provides teachers in the diocese with the opportunity to develop engaging and challenging learning experiences for their students. The curriculum and syllabus have been developed from Foundational Principles.
“Religious education in Australian Catholic schools develops students’ knowledge and understandings of Christianity in the light of Jesus and the Gospel, and its unfolding story and diversity within contemporary Australian and global society. It expands students’ spiritual awareness and religious identity, fostering their capacities and skills of discerning, interpreting, thinking critically, seeking truth and making meaning. It challenges and inspires their service to others and engagement in the Church and the world.”
(NCEC – Framing Paper Religious Education in Australian Catholic Schools. 2018, p7)
Foundational Principles
Our entire curriculum is grounded in the Foundational Principles of Encounter, Accompaniment and Transformation.
Religious Education provides witness to Jesus’ example of accompaniment and supports students to encounter Jesus as the source of Christian life in an effort to provide opportunities for personal and communal transformation.
Syllabus
Our ES1 and Stage 1 syllabus is grounded in the early learning approaches of Maria Montessori and Sophia Cavalletti. It acknowledges that people are both spiritual and physical beings. Students are presented with works using concrete materials and given time and space reflect on what has been presented, connecting liturgy and Scripture.
Our Stage 2- 5 Syllabus provides the essential components of knowledge and understanding, skills and an appreciation of our rich Catholic tradition. It uses a similar structure to new approaches to curriculum development in other Key Learning Areas. The 5 strands of the syllabus include God & Religion, Jesus & Scripture, Morality & Justice, Church and Community and Prayer, Liturgy & Sacraments. A distinctive feature is the integration of Youth Ministry Principles of Connection, Proclamation and Response. Stage 6 curriculum is a choice between Studies in Catholic Thought or Studies of Religion.