At St John’s, Religious Education permeates the culture of the school through the values we uphold and practise, through prayer, liturgy and relationships. It underpins all Key Learning Areas.
The Catholic Schools Office provides us with a syllabus which we use as a guideline to compile our class programs. We encourage the children to behave in a manner which reflects Gospel values, thus reflecting our school motto – ‘Strength and Gentleness’.
Our Religious Education Curriculum identifies the Catholic school as a place where students are offered experiences of Catholic discipleship, and suggests ways that schools can promote those experiences in everyday school life. This syllabus describes the Aims, the Objectives and the expected Outcomes of classroom religious education in the diocese of Broken Bay. It also mandates the content and the progressive teaching and learning that takes place in classroom Religious Education from Kindergarten to the completion of school education.
The modules are resource packages developed from the syllabus. They contain the expected outcomes, and provide Biblical and Catechism references to support the teaching of the topic. As well, they provide theological and education background and suggest ways contemporary pedagogy can be incorporated into the teaching of Religious Education. Each teacher then designs relevant and meaningful learning experiences to suit their students. The children have opportunities to share their understandings with others through prayer assemblies and special liturgies throughout the year.
