Students have the opportunity to attend weekly, half hour Religious Instruction (RI) lessons (from mid Term 1 to the end of Term 4).
Parents are required to purchase a student workbook at the beginning of Semester 1 and at the end of Semester 1 for use in Semester 2.
Christian Religious Instruction and Baha'i RI are currently available.
RI lessons are optional and parents/carers are asked to indicate their preference when enrolment paperwork is completed. Of course, families are able to change their preference by notifying the school in writing (admin@sherwoodss.eq.edu.au).
Queensland state schools embrace a multitude of cultural, religious and non-religious beliefs. Under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, schools are to provide Religious Instruction (RI) if approached by a faith group seeking to provide RI and students of that faith attend the school.
RI informs students about the beliefs and values of a particular religion. It is delivered by volunteers of a faith group using instructional materials approved by that faith group. RI is required to be consistent with legislation and Department of Education policies and procedures.
Volunteer instructors attend the school to run RI lessons.
All RI instructors must hold a blue card and participate in compulsory Student Protection and Code of Conduct training. RI instructors are only entitled to deliver the RI program outlined below. A school staff member will be present during the delivery of RI.
Students are allocated to RI based on information provided by parents on the completed Application for student enrolment unless other written instructions have been provided to the school.
Note: This consent remains in effect unless the parent informs the school otherwise in writing.
A description of the RI available is provided below.
Christian Religious Instruction
Participating faith groups: Local Christian Churches come together to offer Christian RI on a cooperative and non-denominational basis. These local churches may amongst others, include Anglican, Australian Christian Churches, Baptist, Catholic, Churches of Christ, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Uniting Churches.
Authorised programs:
Beginning with God
For further detail please click here.
Connect
For further detail please click here.
GodSpace
For further detail please click here.
Big Questions
For further detail please click here.
Aims and goals: The aim of Christian RI is to inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith from a non-denominational perspective.
Lessons will typically run for 30 minutes per week.
Christian RI Information for Families brochure
Baha'i Religious Instruction
Aims and goals: The aims of Baha'i RI children's classes are to nutrient the hearts and minds of children. The emphasis of these classes is on helping children to learn to reflect on and apply spiritual principles such as love, unity, kindness, peace, and justice to their own lives and those around them, based on the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. The classes seek to inspire in children a love of God, His Messengers and of humanity in all its diversity. The classes include short lessons, prayers, activities to build friendship, games, stories, art and music.
We hope and pray that these Baha'i RI spiritual classes which focus on Nobility of human beings will nurture, train, develop the Potential and refine positive character traits such as justice, love, compassion and other virtues in children.
Outline of lesson structure
Prayers, colouring in virtues lessons, meditation, stories, and music
Amount of time for lesson per week
Typically 30 minutes per week.
Baha'i RI Information for Families brochure
From time-to-time school events may interrupt the lessons for that week.
For further information regarding RI please click here.
Other Instruction
Other Instruction
Students who are not participating in RI will be provided with other instruction in a separate supervised location. This will be a revision lesson as part of our, 'You Can do It', social/emotional learning program.
Parents will be advised of any changes to the RI and other instruction programs to ensure they are able to make an informed decision on their child's participation.
Questions? - you may find the answer below...
Will RI Lessons be held as a class during normal school hours or outside of the regular class schedule? - RI lessons are part of the class timetable and are held inside normal class hours.
What information is discussed during these lessons? - See below
What do the children who opt out of RI Lessons do during the time this class is on? If students are not participating in RI, they will do extra work connected to the curriculum. Examples could include maths facts, a shared or modelled reading lesson, a values lesson, and extra “You Can Do It” lesson.
Will there be any extra costs associated with opting in to this class? If students participate in RI lessons, a student workbook needs to be purchased. See below
Can we choose to opt out down the line if we decide to opt in now? Yes, advise in writing to the school (admin@sherwoodss.eq.edu.au).
Who teaches the RI lessons? See information below about the RI teachers. A Sherwood staff member is always present during RI lessons (in addition to the RI instructor).
Which religions will be covered in the classes? We have volunteers who teach Christian or Baha`i faiths. If your preference is for your child to participate in Bahai lessons, please email admin@sherwoodss.eq.edu.au.