Religious Education

Students in Year 8 have been working on group presentations and investigating ways people make God real for themselves. Some of the focus areas that students chose to investigate were: helping disadvantaged children, providing swag backpacks for the homeless or programs that engage disenfranchised children in sport or music programs.

Year 9 students have been creating Images of Jesus, using poetry, music, sculpture and other art forms as ways to express how they see Jesus. In their next unit, students will be learning about the New Testament including the significance of the lives of the early Christians and the key Christian biblical writings that influence students’ lives today.

This week students in Year 10 will complete their essays about Ethical Issues, their focus has been on refining their essay writing skills, incorporating stimulus quotes and increasing students ability to self-edit. This has been a successful process with students producing high-quality work and preparing themselves for the academic rigour that is needed in stage 6.

Our Year 11 Studies of Religion students completed their End of Preliminary Course Exam last week. Students completed the Preliminary Course as a part of the blended and compressed format and have commenced HSC course work.

2019 is the first year of the new Studies in Catholic Thought course at Mater Dei. During the first unit The Human Person students have been exploring answers to the big philosophical questions, "What does it mean to be a human person"? and "What does it mean to be a human person in relation to God"? For their Assessment Task, students interviewed Kindergarten students and an older person about what it means to be human.

Students gained insight as to what people value in life. During the second unit, students have developed their understanding of Jesus as both human and divine. They have created informative posters about Jesus and his life along with worksheets and activities that will be shared with younger students.

Year 12 Catholic Studies students have presented some very thoughtful presentations based on varying issues such as Indigenous Health, Racism, Poverty, Indigenous Health, Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Environmental Issues, Homelessness, Domestic Violence. Students are now working on writing journals on ethical decision making.

Mrs Jacqueline Walker | Acting RE KLA Leader