Overview

Religious Education is central to the learning and development of students in Catholic schools. Religious Education focuses on the knowledge and understanding of the Gospel as it is handed on by the Catholic Church to those who follow Christ. It is through learning in Religious Education that students, through a process of cultural, systematic, and critical reflection, learn the teachings of the Gospels and understand how Christians live. Religious Education engages students into a systematic study of the teaching of the Catholic Church and the saving mystery of Christ which the Church proclaims. Students learn how religion motivates and influences the way people interact with each other and the world around them.

Religious Education plays an important part in developing the knowledge, understanding, values, attitudes, skills and capabilities of those who will take responsibility for Australia's future as a multicultural and multifaith society.

The College Religious Education seeks to provide rich learning opportunities and environments for young people which nurture them to develop a hunger for lifelong learning. Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to develop into young people who have learned to serve and be responsible for themselves and others.

The Religious Education program taught in Year 7 – 12 is mandated by the Bishops’ of Western Australia. Students are provided with opportunities to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic Tradition and focus on the school vision and mission statements reflected in the College motto:

“Always Striving Upwards – to You, our God.”

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Catholic beliefs

• Outlines the Judeo-Christian belief that God is Creator of all things and that creation reflects God’s love and goodness.
  Provides examples of how Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s Revelation and the source of Christian Salvation.
• Describes how the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to share in the mission of Jesus.

2. Catholic practices

• Describes how the Church, as the Body of Christ has, throughout history, developed structures to enable people to share in the mission of Jesus.
• Describes how the Church provides spiritual guidance aligned to the mission of Jesus.
• Describes how individuals and Church organisations live the Christian Promise of Salvation.

Skills

1. Questioning and research

• Contributes to discussions and constructs a range of questions about the topics by locating, selecting and organising information from one of more primary and secondary sources.
• Provides extended responses.

2. Analysing

• Exchanges ideas and information about the topics in a coherent and logical order.
• Analyses sourced information with reference to origin, purpose and context.

3. Catholic practices

• Describes how the Church, as the Body of Christ has, throughout history, developed structures to enable people to share in the mission of Jesus.

SEMESTER ONE

• Unit 1 – Vocation – called to be and become
• Unit 2 – The Search for Freedom

SEMESTER TWO

• Unit 3 – The Holy Spirit’s action through Conscience and the Church
• Unit 4 – Restoring God’s Justice in the World

Assessment
Religious Education aims to share Catholic faith by promoting knowledge and understanding of the Gospel, as it is handed on by the Catholic Church, and of how those who follow Christ are called to live this Gospel in today’s world. The curriculum is distinct from but complements faith formation.

Effective Religious Education will reflect ‘the same systematic demands and rigour’ as all other Learning Area…It will have its own outcomes and present ‘the Christian message and event with the same seriousness and depth’ as other Learning Areas present their content (Mandate Letter, para 62).

Assessment Guidelines can be accessed on the College website.

Types of assessment:

• Investigation
• Explanation
• Source analysis
• Examination

Assessment File
Students are responsible for retaining all of their marked written assessment tasks. Students are to maintain an assessment file (Document envelope) for the course. The file holds all the student’s marked written assessment tasks. All assessment materials are required by the teacher when assigning grades for reports. Students will have access to the assessment file for revision purposes during class time and for study. The files will be available to students for collection at the end of the school year. All materials not collected by the end of the year are securely disposed of by the College.

Organisation

Students are to bring the following to Religious Education class:

• Diary
• Youcat
• Binder A4 2D
• Exercise book
• Charged laptop
• Earbuds
• Stationery (pencil case containing: blue/black pen, pencil, eraser, highlighters, ruler)
• Bible (Catholic Youth Bible – New International Edition). The classroom teacher will advise if students are to store Bibles in the classroom or for students to keep them in their lockers

Students are to organise their laptops with the following:

• A Religious Education folder in their CEWA OneDrive to store all digital work
• SEQTA log in details to access the Religious Education program, assessment dates and marks
• OneNote and Teams applications, for access to digital resources, lesson instructions and classroom communication
• Email, to communicate with the classroom teacher when necessary