Thank you to Matt, Stephen, Cushla, Whitney, Katherine, Ally and Ruth for presenting their knowledge on how to teach Scripture effectively in a classroom.
Below you can view their presentation which was recorded and the resources that they provided to our audience.
Thank you to our attendees - 25 teachers from 11 different schools. Well done!
P.S. On reflection, we are thinking of having a maximum of four presenters speaking for between 7 - 10 minutes and, sticking to that time frame.
We also have a feedback form(click here) which you can complete so we can make our TeachMeet 2.0 in Term Three even better!
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!
'Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they shall not turn from it.'
The Canterbury Religious Studies Network is a group of teachers who come together to share and discuss our teaching of Religious Studies. We currently have four faith schools involved and we are looking for more members/ schools to join us!
This is open to Primary and Secondary teachers/ schools who are interested in asking questions, seeking advice and sharing resources. Coming together as a Network allows us to form connections with others who are working on similar projects or those who are able to develop our thinking.
We have just launched our website which will provide you with details around our vision and areas of development. Click here to view our website!
To sign up and join our Network please fill in the Form below:
A key feature of our Network is the focus on 'Collective Genius'. Each individual has particular skills and knowledge. When individuals are connected on a platform (such as this Network) the possibilities for innovation are huge!
'For complex change you need many people working insightfully on the solution and committing themselves to concentrated action together' - Michael Fullan.
I hope you have had a fantastic start to the year and know you will be well underway getting to know your classes and completing school events.
We were thrilled to work with two school cluster groups on RE 102 - Introduction to Spirituality and TH 101 - Introduction to Catholicism through our blended learning approach which covers 9 hours on line learning and 9 hours face to face time. This has been a significant shift in the delivery of Religious Education professional development and we are continuing to reflect on how we use the individual, group and on line spaces.
You can explore the Moodle site through this video here and if you would like to know more about Blended Learning approaches please comment on this post.
We are looking forward to travelling around the Diocese and celebrating Catholic Schools Day Mass with you. This is an important time where we are able to come together and celebrate our Catholic faith and Education system. Be sure to take plenty of photos and please send them in so we can place them up on this blog.
We are looking forward to working with you in 2017.
Father John O'Connor has created a daily online retreat for Lent that will provide excellent spiritual nourishment for all of us.
Consider Lent 2017 (Ash Wednesday 1st March - Easter Sunday 16th March) as a time of retreat in the midst of your daily routines and commitments with online
encouragement for prayer and growth in faith.
Every day of Lent foodforfaith.org.nz will offer resources including reflections, brief
videos clips and podcasts with links to other helpful resources for your prayer,
reflection and growth in faith.
These online resources have been linked to the CARITAS Units you will be using in your schools during Lent and also he will incorporate aspects of the Spiritual Renewal Programme that Father Rick is suggesting we implement.
Registering for this online retreat takes less than a minute and you will receive an email that is succinct, to the point,
prayerful and will be a great way to start your day.
You can connect with this programme and Father John via Twitter and Facebook.
We look forward to this wonderful opportunity and thank Father John for his efforts in making this available.
