Events and Action in Term Two!!

Church Strand Draft Resource Trial

We are excited to launch the Church Strand Resource that will be trialled in 31 Schools during Term Two. This trial is part of the draft Digital Resource to support the Mandated Religious Education Curriculum on Faith Alive

Earlier this week, we had two workshops for teachers at St Francis of Assisi School and Our Lady of the Assumption School. It was fantastic to see over 20 teachers from 11 different schools attend this event. We look forward to presenting our final presentation at St Joseph's School in Timaru next week.

During this presentation we completed a demonstration lesson looking at the myriad of ways that you can use this resource. An important feature of this is using class time to address student misconceptions, ask questions, guide students through new materials and build stronger learning relationships. We also discussed new digital tools and research that you can find on our presentation. 

This is an exciting time in the instruction of Religious Education and the main message we have for teachers is to give us your feedback. We believe this is a grassroots movement with teachers. We need your ideas and resources to make this trial resource the best that it can be! Each of us have particular teaching skills. If we can harness these skills it will be an amazing draft resource. Without your help this would not be possible and we thank you for your efforts!

Please view our lesson 'Jesus as Teacher' below:

Catholic Education Office Term Two Newsletter

With the start of Term Two there is always a number of events taking place in the early weeks. This Term Cushla and I have decided to create a Term Newsletter which is jammed packed full of awesome resources and events within the Diocese. Check out the newsletter here. 

Areas within the newsletter which you will find useful are:

- A Staff reflection activity on the recent TED Talk by Pope Francis by Cushla. This is a great way to start your BoT, Department, Parish and Staff meetings.

- Faith Facts for Term Two by Cushla. If you would like to add in areas of faith in your school newsletter this is a must see!

- A Prayer Resource for each fortnight. We have created a Daily Prayer Resource which includes - A Prayer, Scripture Reading and Scripture Reflection for you and your staff to enjoy.

- Tech in Catholic Schools newsletter - If you operate on G Suite or Office 365 then check out this newsletter which has recent updates and news from both providers with a faith lens!

- A reflection on collaboration in schools. We often want this to occur with other schools but how do we make it happen?

TeachMeet Canterbury Religious Studies Network

TeachMeet Canterbury is taking place on Thursday 18th May (3:45pm) at the Catholic Education Office. 

The theme for our TeachMeet is 'Scripture in the Classroom'. A TeachMeet is an opportunity for teachers to share their ideas in a short informal manner. Speakers present for 2 - 7 minutes on an area that they are passionate about. Attendees are able to walk away with a resource or an idea and apply this to their classes. Currently, we have over 25 teachers from 10 different schools!

For more information and to sign up click here.

We look forward to this event and will post presentations and photos after the event!

Thank you and God Bless,

Cushla & Jeremy.