RE Term 1 2019
Year 7 and 8 – My Story – Our Story
Students focus on how we are unique persons made in God’s image and have the potential to develop our goodness.
Students will gain and apply knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to understand:
- That change is essential to human growth and development
- That their own personal gifts mark them as unique persons made in God’s image and living in God’s grace.
- The gifts and traditions passed onto them by whanau and school have an important role in shaping their identity.
- That each Catholic school finds its identity within the family of Catholic schools and the wider Church.
This also links to the work we are doing in Social Studies around ‘Our Story’ as the people of Tauranga Moana.
Year 9 My Story – Our Story
Students are exploring the layers of their identity and what it means to be a child of God. They will experience how scripture and prayer help to cement this reality in our lives and will look at its impact on our attitude and behaviours towards ourselves and others. The unit finishes by exploring the Catholic identity of Aquinas College and the history of the Catholic faith in Aotearoa.
Year 10 Connected
This unit recaps on the idea of being a child of God, but then considers how this impacts our actions and relationships in the on-line world. The benefits and challenges of ICT and social media will be explored, including the tough topics of illegal downloading, gaming, sexting, pornography and cyber-bulling. All of these will be considered in the light of our Catholic sense of identity, highlighting the essential connection between faith and the lived reality of our lives.
Year 11 I Believe
Starting with the Creed, students will explore the key beliefs of Catholicism, focused around understanding the three persons of the Trinity. An emphasis is placed on the significance of these beliefs for Catholics and how they impact their daily decisions and actions. Stewardship of creation and appreciating the gift of salvation are two areas of focus.
Year 12 World Religions
The unit begins with an exploration of the Catholic response to non-Christian religions with an emphasis on the benefits of understanding the multi-cultural world that we live in. We then shift to an in-depth study of the question of what happens when we die, comparing the Catholic and Muslim responses.
Year 13 Finding Meaning
This unit explores the role of worldview when facing the ultimate questions of life. Students look at some key beliefs of secularism and consider how these shape a response to the questions of life purpose and suffering. This is then compared with a Catholic worldview. At Level Three students are encouraged to analyse and use authoritative sources to critically evaluate their findings.
