Dear R.E. Teacher / Chaplain,
At last mid-term starts today and I wish you all every blessing for a restful and well deserved break. It’s been great getting to meet many of you again this year and please get in touch if you would like to arrange a meeting in your school. I have a new Resources CD-ROM and remember there are lots of updated resources on our website and I have uploaded and added numerous playlists to our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/dublindioceseed
October 26th: Eid ul-Adha
Today is the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr and there is a very good 4 minute video on www.TrueTube.co.uk which provides a clear explanation of the festival.
Junior Cycle Reform
Just thought it might be useful to remind people of the change to the proposed Junior Cycle reforms announced by Minister Quinn this month: “Most students will generally take no fewer than 8 subjects and no more than 10 full subjects for certification purposes in the new junior cycle. Students can substitute two short courses for one full subject, allowing options such as Chinese or Physical Education or Digital Media Literacy to be taken. Schools will also be able to offer their own short courses in accordance with specifications provided by the NCCA.” http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2012-Press-Releases/PR12-10-04.html
Also below are some points in relation to the time allocation of R.E. in Post-Primary schools:
- Share The Good News p. 156 states, “All second-level schools, encouraging critical thinking across the Curriculum among adolescents and recognising the multi-faceted world they inhabit, should give significant time and space to support young people in developing the spiritual and moral dimension of their lives. Two hours of Religious Education, that is, three class periods, is the accepted minimum for all classes at second level, a time allocation that the Irish Catholic Bishops join in affirming as the least amount of time that can be considered appropriate. Anything less is clearly insufficient. These class periods should be taken by qualified religious educators, whether or not the class group is sitting a State certified Religious Education examination. (Share the Good News – National Directory for Catechesis in Ireland: Irish Episcopal Conference, 2010)
- Bishops’ Guidelines p.10 states “In non-examination classes religious education should be allocated a minimum of two hours per week. It is not acceptable, for any reason, that this requirement be reduced in schools where the education of Catholic students takes place. Boards of management and principals should do all in their power to prevent the erosion of this small number of hours on the timetable.” (Guidelines for the Faith Formation and Development of Catholic Students: The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, 1999)
- The Model Agreement for community schools and designated colleges states: “The religious worship attended by any pupil at the school/college and the religious instruction given to any pupil shall be in accordance with the rites, practice and teaching of the religious denomination to which the pupil belongs. Religious instruction as aforesaid of the order of 2 hours shall be given to all pupils in the school (except those who are withdrawn from religious instruction in accordance with the provisions of sub-clause (i) of this clause) in each week during which the school is in session.”
Book Request
John Dunne a teacher in Larkin Community College is trying to round up a number of older R.E. books. Ideally he’d like to hold onto them but he could always copy them if you wanted them returned. The books are :
- According to your Word : An approach to Scripture, Teacher Guidelines. Bríd Greville
- The Christian Way : Ray Brady – Book 1 and 3 (Student text) Book 1 and 2 (Teacher text)
If you can help John please email him at: jaygonlarkin@gmail.com
Kind regards,
Gary
Email: garyabrahamian@gmail.com