Religious Education

Religious Education is a unique area of study which provides students the opportunity to develop their religious literacy while learning about the Catholic faith and critically reflecting on their own and other peoples’ beliefs and practices through diverse educational experiences. 

The principal aim of our Religious Education program is to:

Develop students’ religious literacy in the light of the Catholic tradition, so that they may participate critically and effectively in the life of their faith communities and wider society (BCE, A Syllabus for Religious Education for Catholic Schools, 1997, p18).

Religious Education is a fundamental component of our educational and spiritual endeavours.  This Key Learning Area (KLA) is fundamental because as a Catholic school St Joseph’s College has obligations to the Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Brisbane and to the wider Catholic Church community to inform all students about the key beliefs and practices, and tradition and history of Catholicism in pedagogically diverse and interesting ways.  The vital importance of teaching Religious Education at Terrace is explicitly expressed in the Charter for Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice Tradition (2011). This Charter’s touchstone Gospel Spirituality invites:

People into the story of Jesus and strives to make his message of compassion, justice and peace a living reality within our community. 

The Charter more specifically expresses the importance of Religious Education with the statement a Catholic in the Edmund Rice tradition,

Provides religious education in line with Diocesan guidelines and faith formation experiences as fundamental components of a Catholic School curriculum.

Therefore, it is clear that the Charism of Edmund Rice requires us to teach Religious Education as an essential part of a truly holistic education. 

Our Religious Education is shaped by an inclusive interfaith educational philosophy that respects students’ freedom of beliefs in religious matters and encourages critical thinking in the classroom. 

Proselytising to students is therefore not an objective of classroom teaching of Religious Education at this college.  This philosophy accords with the latest academic writing in Religious Education teaching and the distinction Brisbane Catholic Education makes between the objectives of RE classroom teaching and the school’s potential faith formation of students and evangelisation of the Gospel in school liturgies, weekly Mass celebrations in the chapel, retreats, service-learning programs and other co-curricula school activities.

Further information on Religious Education Courses

Mr Peter Marendy
Head of Faculty - Religious Education