Wrapping up Semester One for ReligiousEducation

Year 7

During this unit in Religious Education, Year 7 students engaged actively in their learning as they explored the significance of the Bible in the Christian faith. Students began by examining the structure and purpose of the Bible, learning how it serves as a sacred text that guides believers in their understanding of God and His teachings.

Students developed skills in locating and interpreting scripture, using biblical references to explore themes, messages, and historical context. As part of their inquiry, they researched a range of biblical characters, gaining insight into each figure’s role and purpose within the broader narrative of the Bible.

To conclude the unit, students viewed The Prince of Egypt, a film that brought the story of Moses to life. This allowed students to further understand Moses’ significance as a leader and prophet, and to reflect on his journey and relationship with God as portrayed in scripture.

Overall, students demonstrated curiosity and growing confidence in interpreting biblical stories and understanding their relevance in both historical and religious contexts.

Mandy Borg

Year 8

In Term 2, the Year 8’s explored different types of relationships and what makes them successful and appropriate. Students learned about the four cornerstones of positive relationships and discovered the importance of ‘Communication, Conflict/Resolution, Encouragement and Grace’ in healthy relationships. Students researched the Catholic Social Teachings and collaborated within groups to produce posters for each CST in the classroom.

This led to the students being introduced to their Dear Brigid Advice Column assignment. Their task was to guide others in the art of making relationships work. Their task was to step in for St Brigid to respond to letters in a Catholic magazine called Making Relationships Work. The students were given ten letters and their task was to choose four in order to help people experiencing difficulties with their relationships. They found this assignment really enjoyable and produced professional looking magazines. Here are a few examples:

Year 9 / 10 Awaken the Spirit

During Semester One, students explored the world of science and religion based on the catechistic statement: “...methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God..."

They then focused on science as a human endeavor, to explore why humans turn to science for concrete and factual evidence. They compared this to the concept of ‘faith’, exploring why humans believe in something that often has no factual or scientific backed explanations.

Students used Albert Einstein's quote: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. In other words, you don’t need to know everything to be brilliant — just imagine what could be and go from there. So go ahead, let your mind run wild like a kid at a candy store,’” to create futuristic inventions that answered Pope Francis’ call to ‘Care for our Common Home’.

Bernadette Casey

Year 9 / 10 Does the Bible Really Say That?

The students have been studying how to read and understand the Bible as a rich and diverse collection of texts written in different styles and genres. The Bible is not a single book, but a library of writings including parables, poetry, letters, laws, and prophecy each with its own purpose and message. Through this lens, students explored how genre shapes meaning and how understanding the form of a passage helps deepen comprehension of its message. Students also engaged with selected passages from the Gospel of Mark to investigate its authorship, historical and cultural context, intended audience and overall purpose using the framework of the Three Worlds of the Text in preparation for writing an exegesis.

Eve Bacak

Year 9 / 10 Wonderful and Diverse Belief

During semester one students have been studying a variety of religious traditions and examining what it means to be a member of that tradition. Some of the traditions that students studied included the Catholic Tradition, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist traditions. Students also explored Indigenous Spirituality.

As a taster to VCE Texts and Traditions students analysed some of the text from the Bible and explored how to interpret these complex but meaningful texts.

Susan Scott

VCE Unit 3 Religion and Society

Students have been studying core beliefs from the Catholic Tradition and how these are expressed through the aspects of religion. Students dived into the life experience of the inspirational Oscar Romero and learnt how his experiences with the poor people of El

Salvador in the 1970s led him to reinterpret his beliefs. Hopefully our students have been impacted by the life of Oscar Romero and how they can apply the Gospels to their own lives, in the same way that Romero did.

Student Reflection Day

On Friday 30th May, the College welcomed Fr Elio Capra as our keynote speaker for the annual Student Reflection Day. Fr Elio is a lecturer at Catholic Theological College and is a member of the Department of Systematic Theology and the Department of Pastoral and General Studies. He lectures in Liturgy and Sacramental Theology. He is a priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB).

The Reflection Day began with a student led liturgy which focused on the importance of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in our lives today. Fr Elio followed the liturgy with a thought provoking presentation on Jesus’ love for Zaccheus. This presentation challenged us to consider those in our lives we need to rebuild relationships with.

The Year 7 / 8s explored Forgiveness through Art with Fr Elio. They explored how forgiveness in the Bible is presented in historical and modern day art.

The Year 9 / 10s were introduced to the art of Yayoi Kusama and linking this with Calling us to Community and Hospitality. This modern take on the connection humans have with the natural world was a wonderful take on God’s Gift of Creation and our need to care for our Common Home.

The Year 11 / 12s explored A journey of Self Discovery Through Art. Several art pieces were explored that showcased varying views of self portraits. Frida Kahlo, Shirley Purdy and Judy Chicago.

We thank Fr Elio for taking our staff and students on a journey of discovering the message of Jesus hidden within sacred art and modern day works of talented people.

Shirley Purdy

Visio Divina

Students from Years 7 to 11 engaged in Visio Divina, a silent and contemplative form of prayer. Through three rotations of observing and praying with a sacred image of Mary, students deepened their spiritual connection. For their reflective response, they then had the choice to either: 1) visually express an aspect of the image that resonated with them, 2) articulate a reflective passage from their prayer experience, or 3) depict a modern-day image of Mary. We commend all students for their thoughtful reflections and the truly amazing responses created during this prayerful activity. Samples from Years 7-11 are showcased below.

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