Year 7 Experiences Prayer 

As our year draws to a close, our Year 7s conclude their religious education curriculum by exploring and experiencing prayer both within and outside the Catholic tradition. The unit begins understanding the relational aspect of prayer. A relationship with God and our inner contemplative self, takes time and needs to be prioritised. A routine established in the religious education classroom is that the first five minutes are allocated to Christian meditation and making time to access their inner world. 

This term we have explored other types of prayer, this could be a prayer pilgrimage around the school, a rosary, or praying through scripture. Prayers we have experienced outside the Catholic tradition is nature mandala making. This is an example of the mandala we made and the prayer we prayed at the conclusion of the activity.

Creator God,

Creative Word,

Creating Spirit,

instill in us the humility of creatures

and the wisdom of co-creators.

May we act and speak and breathe

as if within your dance of divine love.

Open us to marvel at the wonder

of your handiwork.

Enable us to see your spirit within all things.

Teach us to respect all that is created.

Humble us to hear the cry of the earth

and the cry of the poor.

Empower us to respond with all our heart and

mind and spirit.

In Christ and through the Spirit

we seek to be the carers within your creation.

AMEN

Year 9s Experiencing Catholic Social Teaching

Preferential options for the poor and upholding human dignity are at the heart of the Year 9 curriculum for this term. In addition to learning about the origin of Catholic Social Teaching and the important role this teaching plays in a world where the division of wealth remains, the class explored ways they could create social change. This year each homeroom aimed to raise $120 to send a student to school in Father Nestor's school in Uganda. Year 9s have used teamwork and creativity to achieve this goal. Year 9 Hughes made cake pops and lemonade to raise money. Students often found skills they didn’t know they had, which included promotion, experimenting with new recipes, handling cash or just organising a large amount of hungry students. So much more was achieved than just fundraising. Well done to Year 9s for living your faith.