Religious Education

At St Catherine's, we aim to create a learning community in which relationships amongst students, staff, parents, caregivers, friends and our parish community are enlightened by our awareness of Jesus of Nazareth, and his life and teachings, and by belief in Christ Risen present amongst all. The implications for us of such awareness in terms of how we live our School Covenant to engage and support every learner in Religious Education and in every Learning Area in our School are extensive.

 

The Religious Education Curriculum is comprised of the Religion Curriculum and the Religious Life of the School according to the Approved Curriculum of the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. 2.5 hours are dedicated per week to the classroom Religion Curriculum in addition to the allocated times for every other Learning Area as practised in Queensland Government Schools.

 

The Religion Curriculum has a structure similar to the Australian Curriculum with Year Level Descriptions, Content Descriptions (Knowledge, Understandings and Skills) and Year Level Achievement Standards. There are four Strands (Sacred Texts, Beliefs, Church and Christian Life) with rich Substrands. Teachers provide lessons for students from this robust curriculum of learning about Religion. Students' progress in learning knowledge, understanding and skills in this Learning Area can be assessed and is reported to parents and care​givers.

 

The Religious Life of St Catherine's School teaches the students how to be religious in the Catholic Christian Tradition. Students from families from other traditions are respected and invited to contribute from their rich backgrounds. The Religious Life of the School is expressed through a broad range of class and whole school activities embracing prayer and meditation; liturgy, assemblies, and celebrations; activity days to develop students as leaders, in awareness of self, others and our habitat; and projects to support people less fortunate than ourselves. The Religious Life of St Catherine's School is also evident in how we learn about and celebrate our Nano Nagle Charism, our School Patron (St Catherine Laboure, from France) and our House Patrons (Jagera - the Jagera People; Conway - Sr Margaret Conway, our Foundation Principal; O'Shea - Fr John O'Shea, our Foundation Priest; and Rush - Archbishop Francis Rush, of Brisbane in 1973, the year of our foundation. Students can never be and are never assessed academically in these areas of their expression of their development in faith, hope and love.