Religious Education is the heartbeat of who we are as a Catholic Education community. Religious Education reveals and deepens students’ knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures and of our Catholic Faith Story and Traditions. The development of comprehensive religious literacy enables students to enter more fully into the life of the Church.

Students are invited to respond in action to their learnings and be conscientious and caring citizens, who make positive contributions to our local and global communities. Celebration is an important aspect of Religious Education and the sacraments, prayer and liturgy are integral to the faith life of our school community.

The teaching of Religious Education is mandatory across all schools in the Diocese of Armidale. Religious Education has primacy of programming and the minimum teaching time for Primary is 180 minutes per week. The embedding of core Catholic Principles and Values is explicit in Religious Education learning and teaching activities, as it is in all other KLAs.

The Religious Education Curriculum is outlined in the Diocese of Armidale Religious Education Syllabus K-10 and is supported by the To Know Worship and Love series of textbooks, the Understanding Faith website (refer to resource section below) and the CSO Intranet accessed by staff individually through the staff portal. A diocesan approved proforma for each unit is located on the CSO intranet in the Curriculum section of Religious Education. 

In K-2 the Storytelling process is central to developing students’ foundational understanding of the Scriptures, Liturgy and Traditions of the Church.

The pedagogical approach to teaching Religious Education is founded in the Emmaus Story (Luke 24:13-35), a post-Easter story where two of Jesus’ disciples encounter the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus.

Four stages are identified in the two disciples’ journey and these four stages are reflected in the learning and teaching activities.

Making Sense – of life experiences,

Gaining Access – through Scriptures and Church teachings,

Celebrating – the life of the risen Christ through prayer and liturgy

Responding – to God in their lives. 

Students are led to understand their own life experiences within a Catholic context. A contemporary and meaningful understanding of the Scriptures and of our Catholic traditions, invites our students to respond to everyday life situations from a Christian perspective and to celebrate God’s love.

Data Informed

Year 6 Students sit the Diocesan Year 6 Religious Education Test each year around June. The data from the test is analysed and used to inform and improve pedagogical practices within the school.

Assessment is undertaken for each unit in each Stage to assess students’ achievement of unit outcomes and to inform and improve the unit and future pedagogical practices.