As a Catholic school, the Religious Education program at St Michael's forms a vital part of our education.
The school follows the diocesan Religious Education program. Both prayer and reconciliation form part of regular school life.
St Michael's also runs school-based sacramental programs to support the efforts of the local parish and to support family-centred preparation for reconciliation, eucharist and confirmation.
Students are actively involved in the liturgy - as altar servers, choir members and readers. We also involve students in the planning of class prayer. Our school's spiritual life is enriched by the regular involvement of our parish priest and the school works in close partnership with our parish.
St Michael's aims to share with students the importance of our Catholic values in everyday life, and each week we nominate a particular value for students to focus on, such as sharing. At the end of the week awards are given to those who have best displayed this value throughout the week.
Education in Faith
Our school exists to offer families an opportunity to experience community life in a faith filled environment. We invite each student to find God, meaning and value in life through prayer, liturgy and celebration. Working in partnership with the parish, St Michael's supports families in their role as the first educators in faith.
Religious Education is a lifelong process. Its foundations are laid in the home and built on within the parish community.
Throughout life, people learn and grow as they try to make sense of their lives, searching for purpose, meaning and happiness. The Catholic school plays an important part in this lifelong journey. Its first contribution to the students' religious education is through the culture and climate of overall school life - the way people treat each other, the religious symbols and celebrations, school prayer, the people and activities that are especially praised and valued, and the values inherent within the school.
This religious dimension is present everywhere in the school: in the playground, the assemblies and the classrooms themselves, where every subject contributes to a genuinely religious way of understanding the world. Meaningful prayer and liturgy nurture and give expression to the religious dimension of school life in the context of the Church’s celebration of the liturgical year.
Within the formal curriculum, Religious Education has a prime place. Here it is a course of formal study that commences in Kindergarten and continues until the end of Year 12.
Classroom-based Religious Education is just as demanding as every other subject. It has its own syllabus and it uses the most effective teaching methods including group work, inquiry learning, research, critical thinking, problem-solving, appropriate use of memorisation, display, and dramatic presentation.
As with other subjects, teachers help their students to develop specific knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes.
A Powerful Partnership
- extract from Sharing Our Story Core Document p.31
The Catholic school does not stand alone. It is in an essential partnership with home and parish. It is in the home that children first encounter religious concepts. They encounter God in the loving relationships of home life, in what is said and celebrated, and in the way everyday life is experienced. Children discover a much larger ‘family’ in their local parish where they can become part of a community in which people worship, express certain beliefs and values, and try to live their lives in a particular way.
The school is part of the mission of the parish. It provides courses in a variety of subjects, designed to develop the mind, the body, the character and the spirit in a particular religious setting. And it offers a vitally important systematic program of Religious Education. All three – home, parish and school – are most likely to do their work effectively when they work in partnership.
What is taught in Religious Education?
The Catholic school does not stand alone. It is in an essential partnership with home and parish. It is in the home that children first encounter religious concepts. They encounter God in the loving relationships of home life, in what is said and celebrated, and in the way everyday life is experienced. Children discover a much larger ‘family’ in their local parish where they can become part of a community in which people worship, express certain beliefs and values, and try to live their lives in a particular way.
How is Religious Education assessed?
As in all other subjects, assessment has an important place. Two main areas are considered:
- Knowledge and skills - where progress in knowledge and skills is observed in what students can explain, demonstrate, make or perform.
- Values and attitudes - in which teachers have to be alert to what students are revealing about values and attitudes in class discussions and presentations, as well as in comments and suggestions. It is important to note that a student's personal faith is not assessed or reported on within the subject of Religious Education.
How can parents be involved?
Relationships are warm and friendly in Catholic schools. Parents, students, staff and pastors see themselves as working in partnership. Students belong to a community that really cares about each of them.
Catholic educators see parents as their children's first and most important teachers. Parents are valued as partners in education. They are always welcome in the schools and are encouraged to participate in the life of the school.
