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.
Students are allocated to RI based on information provided by parents on the completed Application for student enrolment unless other written instructions have been provided to the school.
A description of the RI available is provided below.
Christian RI
Outline of your Faith Group's Aims and Goals: The aim of Christian RI is to inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith from a non-denominational perspective.
Title of authorised program: The providers of Christian RI use authorised program resources and are committed to best-practice programs that have been reviewed by independent curriculum experts. The most popular Christian RI program resources in use in Queensland state schools are: Connect, Beginning with God and Big Questions (all published by Christian Education Publications) and GodSpace (published by Burst Christian Resources).
GodSpace comprises a three year curriculum for children aged 4 to 12 years and is designed to introduce the Bible and the core beliefs common to all mainstream Christian denominations. GodSpace is presented across four age groups engaging children through games, puzzles, memory verses, use of puppets and singing:
Explorers, for children ages 4-6 years
Adventurers, for children ages 6-8 years
Navigators, for children ages 8-10 years
Voyagers, for children ages 10-12 years.
See lesson structure: https://godspace.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Purple-Scope-and-Sequence.pdf
Participating faith groups: Local Christian Churches come together to offer Christian RI on a cooperative and non-denominational basis. These local Churches may, amongst others, include Anglican, Australian Christian Churches, Baptist, Catholic, Churches of Christ, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Uniting Churches.
Outline of lesson structure: Christian RI may involve a variety of up-to-date teaching methods including storytelling, prayer, music, drama, craft, activity books, games, quizzes, video clips and puppet shows. Program resources are written by professional educators and are age-appropriate.
Amount of time for lesson per week: Typically 30 minutes per week
Parents will be advised of any changes to the RI and other instruction programs to ensure they are able to make an informed decision on their child's participation.