Religious Education

Faith Life Units in 2019

When planning our Faith Life Units, we encompass  the Victorian Curriculum  and the Religious Education Framework. Teaching Religious Education today, demands explicit teaching of our Catholic traditions whilst recontextualising scripture, Sacraments and prayer, for a 2019 setting.  The teachers at  St Finbar's plan in teams and dialogue is essential when doing this.  The learning design of the Pedagogy of Encounter is used by the staff  and also as a thinking routine with students.  Planning begins with a secular  topic or concept. The Key Understandings are articulated and a rich discussion otherwise known as a ' brain dump', where no ideas are off limits is enacted. Ideas buzz and bounce around as we challenge each other, think big and explore the understandings.  At the core of this, is what movement in thinking do we want the students to have.   To engage the students, what issue is at stake, what could be our engaging provocation, how can we take them out of their comfort zone.... Then we go through the following routine :

Pedagogy of Encounter

What do I think or sense?

What do others think and why?

What does the Catholic Church teach and why?

How am I called into a deeper relationship with God?

What do Think now and why?

In this way we strive to enact a challenging, engaging and enriching Religious Education program, at St Finbar's. 

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Confirmation 2019

Last week I met with Father Ian, Carmel (Parish Secretary) Joy and Kerri (Parish catechists) for the Sacrament of Confirmation, for our Year 6 school and Parish students in August. To do this, we used the Pedagogy of Encounter to ensure that our preparation with the students was engaging and relevant to their lives in a 2019 context. There will be more information in regards to this Sacrament as this year our Family Faith Night and Reflection day, will a combined school and Parish groups.