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Curriculum

The curriculum structure takes as its frame of reference the Victorian Curriculum and is reflective of current curriculum design and contemporary practice. It recognises the essential educational partnership of home, School, Parish and Diocese, and sees classroom and school-based Religious Education as one significant component of a broader education in faith provided by all these agencies and the life of the school beyond the classroom.

 

To Live in Christ Jesus complete curriculum. 

 

Which strand or lens would you like to view?

Which level would you like to view?

A Note on Strands and Lenses

Although the Strands and Lenses appear to be separate and distinct, they are woven together intricately. As the curriculum is taught, the interconnections between the Strands and Lenses will be recognised and developed.

Strands

The Strands are the four areas through which content is learned and Religious Education is shared and understood. The Strands are divided into four learning areas: Triune God, Life and Mission of Jesus, A Sacramental Church, and Christian Life and Catholic Social Teaching.

Triune God Strand

  • God is Trinity of persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
  • God - Creator
  • Jesus of Nazareth - Saviour, Word Made Flesh
  • Holy Spirit - Communion of Love between Father and Son

 

At the heart of the Christian faith stands the person of Jesus Christ who proclaimed the nearness of the Kingdom/. Jesus is the Saviour promised in the and is the source of salvation and new life in God. Christianity professes faith in the Triune God, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three divine persons, equal in nature and dignity, and bound together in one communion of love. This mystery is at the centre of Christian belief and is known in faith through God’s self-communication in the person and mission of Jesus Christ. This belief arises from the Christian experience of God and draws humanity into the divine life through the Holy Spirit.

Catholics believe in the Triune God: one God, the Father, the Almighty, one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God and the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Therefore we teach about God’s love as expressed in creation and ultimately expressed in the person and mission of Jesus. This love is the Holy Spirit that continues to work in the Church today.

The Life and Mission of Jesus Strand

  • Jesus of Nazareth - Saviour, Word Made Flesh

 

At the heart of the Christian faith stands the person of Jesus Christ. Born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, Jesus proclaimed the nearness of the Kingdom/. Jesus is the Saviour promised in the and is the source of salvation and new life in God. Triune God, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is at the centre of Christian belief and is known in faith through God’s self- communication in the person and mission of Jesus Christ.

Catholics believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Saviour promised in the , source of salvation and new life in God, whose mission was to bring about the Kingdom/.

Therefore we teach about God’s love ultimately expressed in the person and mission of Jesus to bring about the Kingdom/.

Sacramental Church Strand

  • Body of Christ
  • Community of Disciples
  • Witness to Unity and Justice
  • Effective signs of Christ’s saving presence
  • Communal celebration of Christian identity

 

The Church constantly draws life from Christ at work in its midst. The Church was born from the mission of Jesus Christ and entrusted to the apostles in his death and resurrection. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit at , the early Christian community was empowered to continue the saving mission of Christ in the world. Enlivened by the Holy Spirit, the community of disciples continues to make Jesus Christ visible in the world today. The ongoing work of the Church proclaims Christ, crucified and risen from the dead, as Lord and Saviour of all. A sacrament makes present the grace of God it signifies. This means that of its very nature, the Church and all that it does in Christ is sacramental, for it makes Christ present and effective in the world. The seven sacraments of the Church have their origin in the ministry and paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. The sacraments celebrate in symbol and ritual the Christian identity of those who come to Christ in faith. In the celebration of each sacrament, the Church, as well as the individual, draws closer to Jesus. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church works to help humanity to know the love of God as revealed in Jesus, and to experience the life and hope that God offers.

 

Catholics believe that the celebrates, in symbol and ritual, Christ’s saving presence for those who respond in faith.

Therefore we teach the story of the Catholic Church and the meaning, symbolism, richness and rituals of Sacramental celebrations.

 

Christian Life and Catholic Social Teaching Strand

  • The flourishing of human persons
  • The common good of societies
  • Shared responsibility in relation to creation

 

Religious communities which are founded on the Old and New Testaments find in them both the imperative and the guidance to discern ways of being and acting in the world which respond to the creative love of God. Catholic communities also find guidance for living and acting in the traditions of social and moral teaching that have arisen over centuries of Gospel inspired practice.

Catholics believe that humanity is created in the image and likeness of God and that the Scriptures and the social teaching of the Church call people and governments to work for peace, justice and the promotion of the common good of society.

Therefore we teach the fundamental moral understanding of the dignity of human persons and how this is animated in the principles of , calling humanity to respond.

Lenses

The Lenses are the illuminating perspectives through which we view the Strands. The Lenses are also bodies of knowledge divided into four learning areas: Scripture, Tradition, Christian Prayer and Liturgy, and Religion and Society.

 

Scripture Lens

  • Word of God alive and active
  • Foundational story of Christianity

 

 

In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to humanity in a human way. The Scriptures are those writings recognised by the Church as inspired by God and containing the truth necessary for salvation. Consisting of the , the , the Gospels and early Christian writings, they have been gathered into two great collections commonly known as the Old and New Testaments. They witness to the foundational events of God’s saving relationship with the world, and tell that story in various literary forms: poetry, prose, law, history, saga, letter and Gospel. The Church receives these sacred writings as a living word giving hope to humanity. The reader needs to be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal by their words. In order to discover the sacred authors’ intentions, the reader needs to take into account the context of the authors’ time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating current in those times. The reader also needs to be attentive to how Scripture speaks to them today.

There exists a close connection and communication between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. Sacred Scripture is the word of God committed to writing through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, while Sacred Tradition takes the Word of God entrusted by Christ and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors, enabling it to be faithfully proclaimed and explained today. Therefore, both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and enacted.

Catholics believe that Sacred Scripture gives support and vigour to the life of the Church and the individual, is food for the soul and the source of spiritual life.

Therefore we teach about the Bible, explore Scriptural texts, and invite reflection and response.

Tradition Lens

  • Work of the Spirit
  • Gift entrusted to the Church
  • Living faith believed, shared, celebrated and handed on

 

Tradition refers to the living faith experience of the Christian community: a living faith believed, shared, celebrated and handed on. Tradition is expressed in various ways: in the faith and witness of the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops, in the worship, preaching and sacraments of the community, in the reading and interpreting of Sacred Scripture, in formal definitions, dogma, doctrines and creeds, in hymns, music and art, in theology, in various spiritualities and devotional traditions and in the life stories of holy individuals and communities. Tradition complements Scripture and guards against interpretations that contradict the faith of the church.

There exists a close connection and communication between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. Sacred Scripture is the Word of God committed to writing through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, while Sacred Tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors, enabling it to be faithfully proclaimed and explained today. Therefore, both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and enacted.

Catholics believe that Tradition is a dynamic reality which brings forth the depth and meaning of all that the Church has received and hopes for in Christ.

Therefore we teach the content and history of Catholic Tradition, and how it is conveyed and lived.

Christian Prayer and Liturgy Lens

  • Personal and communal relationship with God
  • Listening and responding to God’s Spirit

 

 

Prayer is a conversation with God. It includes a prior awareness in which people listen to the stirrings of the voice of God who speaks to them through the Holy Spirit. God is present in the world and in a person’s deepest self through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and when people pray, they turn to that loving presence to deepen their communion with God, and to allow God to work all the more in them. The ways of prayer are many and reflect the varied circumstances and dimensions of a person’s relationship with God.

Liturgy is the official public worship of the Church. It is concerned with building up the Church to be the human presence of Christ. It is a public act celebrated for the good of the community and is central to Christian life. Through prayer and liturgy, people are drawn into the divine life of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whose mystery lies at the heart of all that is. It is through prayer and liturgy that people encounter the divine mystery.

Catholics believe that in opening themselves to the loving presence of God through prayer and liturgy, they allow their relationship with God to be deepened, and allow God to work more fully through them.

Therefore we teach the importance of prayer and liturgy for the individual and the Church, teach how to engage in prayer and liturgy, and explore the transformational experience that both can provide.

Religion and Society Lens

  • Dialogue within the Catholic Tradition
  • Dialogue with other religious traditions and life philosophies

 

Religion is a social and communal way of life, which springs out of the human heart in the search for meaning and the desire to respond to the divine. It draws on authoritative teachings, stories, rituals, ethical norms, laws and spiritual experience to create a community. This community shapes identity and gives purpose to its members. There is a variety of traditions within Christianity. This sets a challenge to Christians to work for unity. In a global world where many religions are in contact with each other, Christians must give an account of themselves if they are to give proper witness to Christ and so fulfil the mission with which they are entrusted.

Australia is a country with its own Indigenous people who live in age-old spiritual closeness to the land and its dreaming. Our society also brings together many people from a diverse number of places around the world. Each of these communities has its own spirituality, customs and ways of life, often set within a religious tradition. Each religious tradition makes its own contribution to Australian society and all should be respected and understood. The Religion and Society Lens enables people to give shape to their personal identity in dialogue with others against the backdrop of a dialogue with the preferred stance of the Catholic Tradition.

Catholics believe that by virtue of a common baptism in Christ, Christians are called to commit to unity with each other and discipleship, and be open to intercultural and religious dialogue.

Therefore we teach the importance of engaging in authentic dialogue through a spirit of openness and respect against the backdrop of the preferred stance of the Catholic Tradition.