Education in Faith
At St Cecilia’s School our Catholic faith is central to our community life together and permeates the whole school curriculum.
We believe in the dignity of the human person and that we are all created in God’s image. We strive to foster the faith development of each person and all members of our community are encouraged to be living examples of Gospel values in their interactions with others.
Religious Education is a curriculum area in its own right, in which a structured program of learning leads the children to develop an understanding of our Catholic traditions, rituals, the Scriptures and sacraments. Wherever possible it is integrated with other curriculum areas and in particular with our Student Well-Being programs.
At St Cecilia’s, we believe that we have been called to carry forward the mission of Jesus Christ through service. Therefore we involve the students in social justice programs and encourage them to make personal responses to their faith and take action in the world.
During Religious Education lessons we employ a range of inquiry and contemporary learning strategies including ICT, song, prayer, liturgy, movement, drama and art to make learning meaningful and enjoyable for the students. We encourage the students to explore and express their wonderings about our Catholic faith.
Parents, as the first educators in faith, are provided with regular opportunities to be involved in the Religious Education program through liturgies, sacraments and other activities.
Religious Education at St Cecilia's Primary School aims to help students grow as faith filled people. We aim to build on the experiences of each student, enhance their opportunity for rich dialogue with others and allow them to form their own understandings and make deep connections with their faith.
At St Cecilia’s Primary School the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, with human dignity at its centre, are embedded in student’s learning experiences across the curriculum and underpin all we do.
Faith in Life Inquiry
At St Cecilia’s we explore Religious Education through an Inquiry based approach; guided by the Catholic Social Teaching Principles we recognise that we don’t live our faith seperate to our life but faith and life are woven together. We encourage students to ask questions and share their wonderings to help make sense of their faith tradition in our world today. Students make connections between their life as a person of faith and their everyday experiences. They share in dialogue to deepen their understanding of what it means to be a faith filled active citizen.
Sacraments
Celebrating our Sacraments highlights and demonstrates that we at St Cecilia’s see the whole school engaging in what Sacramentality means for our community today and how we live sacramentally as integral to our being.
Our Sacramental Season recognises the importance of experiencing sacrament in all aspects of our daily lives. We treasure the opportunity to work alongside Parish and families at the special time of Sacrament preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation. In collaboration with our parish, we offer all baptised Catholic students the opportunity to receive the Sacraments in the following order:
Reconciliation – Year Three
First Eucharist – Year Four
Confirmation – Year Five/Six