Catholic schools create formative experiences that are inspired by Catholic faith and which resonate with the cultural contexts of their families.
In a Catholic school all curriculum areas have a religious dimension which pervades the whole life of the school. While ‘religious education’ can be understood in a broad sense which encompasses the religious nature of the school life, there is also a core Learning Area called ‘Religious Education’ with a particular curriculum.
The Religious Education curriculum also includes the Made In the Image of God Human Sexuality Program, which is based on the fundamental belief that humans are made in God’s image and deserve upmost dignity and respect.
The “On Holy Ground” document, developed in partnership with Catholic Earthcare Australia, outlines an ecological vision for Catholic Schools in South Australia, which seeks to help guide them towards sustainability. It is available for download below.
All schools are supported in the Religious Education by our Religious Education team.
Welcoming all families - including those of other faith traditions and families with no particular faith tradition - Catholic Schools hold core Catholic beliefs as central to their mission. Such beliefs permeate all that is done in a Catholic School, including teaching and learning across the entire curriculum.
All curriculum areas have a religious dimension: inviting students to examine the world of human culture and the world of religion, exploring a Catholic worldview, fostering the search for meaning and truth, and making links to the Good News of Jesus. This religious dimension is given depth by the faith witness of staff through their presence, relationships and teaching.
Catholic Schools view Religious Education as a core curriculum area. As well as being an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills, values and dispositions, Religious Education in a Catholic School invites students into a deepening encounter with the living God.
Please contact your school for further information.
Students come from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds and live in diverse forms of family.
Our schools are inspired by the Gospel and the Christian tradition and focussing on the integration of faith, life and culture.
Catholic schools, in partnership with families, aim to form young people in ways that take into account the whole person.
Catholic educators make a vital contribution to promoting the development of the human person, fostering social consciousness, nurturing prayer and encouraging young people to engage the living Tradition of the faith community.
The Catholic school aims to invite children and young people to faith in ways that are contemporary and meaningful. It endeavours to draw them more deeply into the life of the Catholic Church while respecting the religious freedom of those from other religious backgrounds.
Catholic schools work in partnership with:
These also provide further opportunities for collaborative formation of students.
The Office of Family & Parish Based Catechesis have produced a document to support those preparing children for the Sacraments of Initiation with a pastoral framework which both educators and parents will find beneficial.
Catholic Schools in SA utilise a Religious Education Framework entitled Crossways.
Crossways supports the integration of faith, life and culture provides a clear curriculum framework for the development of teaching and learning within the Key Learning Area of Religious Education.
The purpose of Religious Education is the deepen students’ understanding of the Catholic Tradition, to develop an appreciation of its significance in their lives, so that they may participate in the life of the Church and wider society.
Leaders and staff of each school contribute to the design and delivery of Religious Education based on this framework.
Other aspects connected with, but not contained within the Religious Education curriculum, include the Made In the Image of God Human Sexuality Program and On Holy Ground, an ecological vision for Catholic Education SA.
The Made in the Image of God program is the Human Sexuality Education program for SA Catholic Schools.
It is based on the fundamental belief that humans are made in God’s image and are deserved of the utmost dignity and respect, and that sexuality, integral to the human person, is a gift from God through which we can live out our vocation to love. The program is delivered, often as a part of an integrated curriculum approach, across each year level from Reception to Year 12.
Parents are acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children, particularly in the area of sexuality. In providing sexuality education, SA Catholic schools support parents in their primary role.
Please contact your school for further information.
