A Catholic world view
“Today the religion teacher in a Catholic school faces the task of introducing a religious culture, tradition and world view to students who are largely unfamiliar with the territory. This territory includes religious language, symbols, icons, images, beliefs, practices and traditions. This unfamiliar territory for students needs to be approached in a similar way to teaching a second language”
(Brennan & Ryan, 1996, p.9).
At Christ the King, the above statement has very real significance and relevance in our community. While many families are practising Catholics we also acknowledge that many families in our community are not. We consciously approach all aspects of Religious Education, including the Religious Life of School with the knowledge that, for our learners and families, many ideas and practices are new. This situation however presents us with a rich and valuable opportunity to introduce many who would not otherwise have any contact with the Church or Christian Catholic beliefs and traditions.
What you will find at CTK
- We value that parents and care givers are the first educators of their children in faith and traditions.
- A very keen awareness of the avoidance or presumptive language in planning documents, in communication about Religious Education to parents.
- This avoidance of assuming religious literacy extends into our liturgical and religious life of school activities. All parents and family are welcomed with specific emphasis placed on the fact that they do not need to be Catholic to come and participate in class liturgies etc.
- We further teach about the traditions by including a commentary or instruction during assembly prayer, liturgies and Mass.
- An awareness that our students and their families not only learn about Catholic Christian traditions and faith from classroom learning but from the lived faith of our staff. To support our staff in this we offer faith formation activities such as retreat days, professional development, opportunities for liturgical participation in Eucharist and Reconciliation and prayer and meditation opportunities