What's Happening in RE Classrooms?
Year 7 RE
In Year 7 RE classrooms, students are learning about what it means to belong to the Catholic Church and, more specifically, belong to Kildare Catholic College.
Students are learning about the many facets of Kildare that guide our actions and behaviour including:
- What is means to be Catholic and the different meanings of the word:
- Catholic: referring to the Catholic Church and its belief in Jesus who modelled the teachings of Christ and who guides adherents to create heaven and earth.
- catholic: referring to the notion of being universal or inclusive, welcoming and accepting of everyone. Being catholic means showing respect, a virtue that Mr Browne focused on at this week’s Monday morning student briefing.
- Catholic: referring to the Catholic Church and its belief in Jesus who modelled the teachings of Christ and who guides adherents to create heaven and earth.
- What it means when we say that Kildare is a “Peace School”. Students are learning about the life and legacy of our House Patrons - Saint Mother Teresa, Blessed Oscar Romero, Sister Benedicta, Martin Luther King, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Mahatma Gandhi - all of whom advocated for peace in their life.
- Those who have come before us, including the work of Nano Nagle, the founder of The Presentation Sisters, and Edmund Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers.
- Saint Brigid, the patron Saint of Ireland, who established a refuge in Kildare, Ireland, for the poor, aged, orphaned and sick.
More information on our College history and charisms can be found in the “Go To Guide”, located on the College website.
Year 8 RE
Year 8 students are building on their work in Year 7 and are studying the topic “The People of the Covenant”. In this unit students relate key events and themes of salvation history, including Passover, Exodus and Covenant to their expectations, responsibilities and aspirations as adolescents in relationships with others.
Year 9 RE
This unit focuses on the concepts of “justice” and “peace” through the lens of Jesus’ teachings and contemporary Church doctrine. Students will learn about Pope Francis’ encyclicals including Laudato Si and how we, as Catholics, are called to respond to environmental concerns through our everyday actions. Students will apply their understanding of Church teachings to one environmental injustice and demonstrate how it is negatively affecting humans and the environment.
Year 10 RE
In Year 10, Religious Education moves from 6 week units to term-long units. This enables staff to deepen student’s knowledge of the core aspects of Catholicism. This term, students are learning about meaning in the media in the context of morality and social justice, in relation to the ways in which the media influences personal and social values and ethics. They will also learn about how individuals make moral decisions from the perspective of key theorists and the role Church doctrine has as a moral teacher and guide. Specifically, they will learn about Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Decision Making and the core ethical teaching of Christianity including the Ten Commandments, Beatitudes and Jesus’ Commandment of Love.
Students will then apply their knowledge of these ethics to one key social justice issue that is important to them.
We encourage parents and carers to talk with their children about social issues prevalent in our world.
Stage 6 Religion
All senior students have commenced their study in either Studies in Catholic Thought (non-ATAR) or Studies of Religion (ATAR). Monday, Students are encouraged to work hard, communicate with their teachers and seek support as required. All Year 11 & 12 students should also be referring to the Assessment Booklet regularly to assist them in preparing for assessments.
Caitlin Fahey | Religious Education Coordinator