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This unit is an opportunity to reflect on how we deal with any change in life. It encourages students to first look at how they have dealt with changes in their own life and how we can best prepare ourselves to reflect on change in the future. Students are encouraged to explore the Catholic perspective of grief and loss and how we can best help those experiencing these in their lives. Students interpret our call to service in these difficult times and how the funeral service, palliative care and other carers interpret this call. We also consider how we can best protect and maintain the dignity and free will of all people in a multi-faith, multicultural society during these times.

This subject has been created to combine two subjects formerly known as One Gods and Many Gods. Gods, spirits, and deities have existed for as long as humans have; why is that? In this unit students will explore the evolution of human spiritual devotion and the dominance of monotheism over polytheistic worship. Using the 9 aspects of religion as a guide, students will compare and contrast their existing experiences of monotheistic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam with that of other monotheistic and polytheistic cultures. Students will navigate the rise of religions along significant timelines of events, learning how each shaped the religions we know today. Investigations on how the polytheistic religious beliefs of ancient Mesopotamia of ‘many gods’ changed to the worship of ‘one god’. In the ‘God v Gods’ unit, students looked at polytheistic gods such as the Roman, Greek and Norse Gods. In this subject, students will explore their focus on polytheistic gods closer to home, such as, Polynesian deities, Maori deities, Hinduism, Indigenous Spirits and Shintoism. Who really was the demi-god Maui? And is there really such a deity as the ‘Kitchen God’ that is heavily worshipped today? This unit of study is a great pick for a student who is interested in world religions, world cultures, history, and philosophy.

Students often ask how anyone could accept religion when religions have been responsible for so many wars and conflicts throughout history. This unit looks at some of the great religious wars throughout history, from the epic biblical battles by the Israelites as they fought for the promised land, the history of the Crusades, its bloody aftermath and persecutions that followed the Protestant Reformation, right up to modern times and the religious background to some of the worst of our contemporary global conflicts. We try to separate the essence of religious belief and teachings from the misinterpretation, misapplication and misuse of these by members of the religious tradition.

We honor Mary as the Mother of God and follow her example as the faithful disciple who consistently gave active and responsible consent to the will of God. Mary was a woman of history who experienced personal suffering, loss and hardship, and while sometimes she did not fully understand, she always trusted God. Mary’s faithful discipleship and women in scripture who all follow her example as a women of faith and conviction. Exploring the many women of the past, present and future who have strong values and qualities who young women of today can be inspired by.

In this subject, students explore what active participation in the Catholic faith is, and how social justice promotes fairness and equity across many aspects of society. Students will investigate and examine the Catholic Social Teaching principles and enact ways to fulfil these in the local community. Students explore social justice and ethical practices to overcome social injustices.

This unit seeks to explore the difference between being a Saint and a Hero by studying the people who lived out Gospel values and made our world a better place. Throughout this unit students will study traditional and modern figures like Teresa of Avila, Oscar Romeo, Ghandi, Catherine McAuley, Marcellin Champagnat, Moira Kelly and Malala Yousafzai. Students will study the critical discernment processes of these figures to understand why they acted and the significance of their actions. Students will also explore the key life issues these people challenged and overcame in order to make the impossible become possible.

In the subject Jesus man and myth, students often ask whether Jesus really existed or have the stories we read in the Gospels simply been made up? This unit looks at the early Christian writings and historical sources beyond the Christian literature to discover what we know about the historical figure of Jesus. We then look beyond the historical figure to discover the development of stories, writings and other forms of literature that communicate the deeper religious and ethical beliefs of the followers of Christ. As these go beyond the boundaries of historical, scientific and literal truth, the unit becomes a discussion about the validity and relevance of religious beliefs and how these are communicated via various styles of writing. In the second half of this unit, we look at how the modern day Jesus would respond to the contemporary world. Students will be asked to develop a proposal and respond to the Catholic Social Teachings to develop a strategy to resolve an issue and act out ways to put this strategy in place.

Scientific advances and discoveries over the past 500 years have called into question many of the key beliefs of Christianity. Modern astrophysics and the Theory of Evolution tells a very different story to the traditional biblical account of the creation of the universe and the origins of life, especially that of human beings. This unit examines how the contemporary Church is able to not only reconcile its beliefs and teaching with modern science but how these have actually been enhanced and deepened when viewed through a modern scientific prism.

The Beatitudes are eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Students explore and investigate what the eight beatitudes mean and why God blessed the disciples in this way. Students then investigate and analyse how they can apply the beatitudes to themselves, and reflect on the impact of Jesus’ message for people then and now. Finally, students will interpret how the beatitudes help to inform people’s attitudes and beliefs, and make a personal stance of how they could use the beatitudes to make better decisions. As an important component to RE subject content, education of Indigenous culture will be addressed specifically in all RE Sandstone subjects. Specifically, Aboriginal spirituality will be taught through a local lens of the Tungarung people. Three lessons per cycle will be devoted to covering content on Aboriginal spirituality which is the belief that all objects are living and share the same soul or spirit that Aboriginals share. It is hoped that this will increase student awareness about the social justice issues surrounding our Indigenous Australians.

This unit is an opportunity to encounter faith through art. Students will both analyse and create artwork to understand how faith is not just a concept but also an action. They will study how women in scripture have been interpreted throughout history and today. Students will be encouraged to question how the portrayal of these women reflects the changing expectations of men and women over time. RE & Art will also explore the impact of Mary on artworks throughout history. As an important component to RE subject content, education of Indigenous culture will be addressed specifically in all RE Sandstone subjects. Specifically, Aboriginal spirituality will be taught through a local lens of the Tungarung people. Three lessons per cycle will be devoted to covering content on Aboriginal spirituality which is the belief that all objects are living and share the same soul or spirit that Aboriginals share. It is hoped that this will increase student awareness about the social justice issues surrounding our Indigenous Australians.

This course serves to be a comprehensive introduction to Catholicism providing exploration of the beliefs, traditions, and practices that define the Catholic faith. This subject serves as an opportunity for students to seek a deeper understanding of what it means to be Catholic. It looks at how the contemporary Christian and more specifically Roman Catholic Church is able to reconcile its beliefs and teachings in the modern world. Students will study the fundamental beliefs of Catholicism, for example, common Catholic prayers, sacred spaces, like the Chapel and the Church, the Trinity, and the sacraments. This unit forges the way for fundamental knowledge and skills that will be necessary for all future study in Religious Education at Сʪ����Ƶ. Finally, students explore what it means to be a Good Catholic? They investigate Catholics in action and how to make a stand on key contemporary issues. 

As an important component to RE subject content, education of Indigenous culture will be addressed specifically in all RE Sandstone subjects. Specifically, Aboriginal spirituality will be taught through a local lens of the Tungarung people. Three lessons per cycle will be devoted to covering content on Aboriginal spirituality which is the belief that all objects are living and share the same soul or spirit that Aboriginals share. It is hoped that this will increase student awareness about the social justice issues surrounding our Indigenous Australians.