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.
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.
Participation in RI is not compulsory. Any student (except Prep students) may participate in RI if a parent has provided written instructions to the school.
Note: This consent remains in effect unless the parent informs the school otherwise in writing.
The current RI option at Sunshine Beach State School is of the Christian faith (see description below).
Christian Religious Instruction (CRI) at Sunshine Beach State School
Participating faith groups
Local Christian Churches offer CRI on a cooperative and non-denominational basis. They send out volunteers and/or donate funds for the curriculum materials and student workbooks.
These local churches include Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Noosa Church (COC), Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Uniting Church (others may be added).
Curriculum
The following curriculum resources have been reviewed for use in QLD schools:
Connect, Beginning with God and Big Questions (all published by Christian Education Publications) and GodSpace (published by Burst Christian Resources).
The CRI program at Sunshine Beach State School uses the GodSpace curriculum and Beginning with God.
Aims and Goals
The aim of the program is to inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith from a non-denominational perspective, which means focusing on the shared foundation that the Christian churches have in common.
More about the lessons
A variety of teaching methods may be used including storytelling, music, drama, games, puppets, quizzes, activity books and different media like video clips and PowerPoints.
Allocated lesson time is usually 40 minutes weekly a selected year level.