RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
The ultimate aim of the Religious Education programme is to assist your child to develop a relationship with God and to know and understand the beliefs, celebrations and prayers of the Catholic Church.
We ask you to help your child with this by taking an interest in the programme through discussion on related topics, praying with them and helping them in their understanding. Please assist your child with any R.E. tasks that are sent home. These will be related to the topic in the classroom.
Our day always begins with Prayer. This will begin in each classroom at 9:00am and we expect the children to be present in the classroom at this time. We consider this to be a very important part of our day.
A Family Whanau resource which explains each of the strands the children will be learning at each level, level 1 – 8 is available online at www.faithalive.org.nz.
Traditional prayers such as The Our Father and Hail Mary are still very much part of our prayer life and if the children had some knowledge of these, that would assist in them feeling part of prayer time. Along with traditional prayers your child will be exposed to other forms of prayer during their years at St Joseph’s School.
Our Religious Education programme focuses on …...
What the Catholic Church believes and teaches
Understanding about how the Catholic Church celebrates, lives and prays
How people can respond freely to God according to their gift of faith
All children from Yr 0 – 8 are taught Religious Education from the National Council Religious Studies ReligiousEducation programme. This programme is based on 6 Learning Strands and 4 Learning Modules.
A Learning Strand is a major area of knowledge divided into eight years of schooling.
The Strands are:
God
Jesus Christ
The Holy Spirit
Church
Sacraments
Communion of Saints
A Learning Module is also a major area of knowledge which will be taught in every class in every year.
The Liturgical year
Prayer
Sacramental Celebrations
Myself and Others