Good Practice Conference

Good Practice Conference “…collating, disseminating and encouraging the adoption of good practice…”

'Reign of God' a practical application of Curriculum for Excellence Image from Pixton.com

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was to come, he gave them this answer, “The coming of the kingdom does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say, “Look here! Look there!” For, you must know, the Kingdom of God is among you. Luke 17:20-21 Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Therefore, miss no single opportunity to do His work, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing even the smallest things right, and doing it all for love. (St. Teresa)

From “Religious Education in Roman Catholic Schools: Principles and Practice” “… in keeping with the values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence.” “It is designed to assist children and young people to be increasingly able to make a mature and informed response to God in faith and to nurture that faith. It offers opportunities for both evangelisation– proclaiming the Gospel message to all – and catechesis– the deepening of existing faith commitments among believers.” “The curriculum is more than curriculum areas and subjects: it is the totality of experiences which are planned for children and young people through their education… contributing to the four aspects of the curriculum: the ethos and life of the school; interdisciplinary studies; curriculum areas and subjects, and opportunities for personal achievement.

Reign of God • reflecting on the Ten Commandments and on Jesus’ New Commandment • responding to the call to grow in holiness as expressed by Jesus in the Beatitudes through being compassionate, just and willing to contribute to the common good • examining the need to respond to moral issues in the light of Catholic teaching • expressing our thoughts and feelings about how the Church’s invitation to build God’s kingdom of justice, love and peace can affect us and others. • R

Reign of God

Reign of God – The Practicality Not only are you already doing it, but you’re doing it well! It is being able to recognise that you’re doing it, and recognising that it is now being acknowledged for what it has always been; central to the social, educational and spiritual development of our pupils. And…

You will also be doing: • Enterprise Education • Literacy • Numeracy • Health & Wellbeing • International Education • Interdisciplinary Learning • y

Reign of God Practical Examples from St. Ninian's High School APD SCOTTISH SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP

Reign of God – APD Scottish Schools Partnership • Started 2004 under auspices of SCIAF “Project Partnership” scheme • Summer 2004: Visit (funded by SCIAF) by staff of interested schools to APD, Bangalore • November 2004: Visit by disabled pupils of APD to Scottish Partnership schools • 2005/2006: fundraising; awareness raising; working to build profile in school • June/July 2006: Visit by one member of staff and two pupils from each school, funded by SCIAF, to work with APD in integrated school, urban and rural outreach programmes and horticultural centre • Aug/Sep 2006: Feed back to staff, pupils, parents and parishes about partnership • October 2006: Visit by a number of APD staff, funded by SCIAF, to partnership schools, LAs, primaries, special schools, disability centres, etc • December 2006: SCIAF funding ends • March 2007: First “India Week”: departments asked to consider putting an explicit link to the partnership in their curriculum; all assemblies presented by pupils who made 2006 visit/members of the Justice and Peace Group. Rich Man, Poor Man Lunch runs with Indian Theme. Repeated March 2008 and 2009 • August 2007: School Young Enterprise Group set up business importing saris, etc from partners in Bangalore • June 2008: Visit by 2 members of staff and 2 pupils to Bangalore

Reign of God India Week Evaluation – see Handout http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk

Reign of God – APD Scottish Schools Partnership Partnership Day: “Disabled for a Day” My name is _______________ On Partnership Day I spent the day as a blind person. The main problems I encountered were the fact that people couldn’t accept the fact that I was disabled and wasn’t able to do the things that I would do normally. Another problem was that staff and pupils didn’t know how to deal with a person who had a disability; all they saw was the problem. Also, people made jokes and pushed me around which I found very frustrating. My experiences have taught me that a disabled person’s worst problem is other people’s reaction to them. It is very difficult to cope both mentally and physically. My name is ______________. On Partnership Day I spent the day as a blind person. The main problems I encountered were doing my class work (although my friends did help me), getting to my classes, and people pushing me or making fun of me. I got really annoyed because people kept talking to me slowly, as if there was something wrong with my hearing, too. My experiences taught me that other people often do not understand how hard it is to be blind. I admire people who live with disabilities and have to put up with this every day.

Reign of God – Justice and Peace Group • Make Poverty History Campaign • Organising fundraising events • Organising a “Lobby Lunch”: e-mailing Tony Blair to “drop the debt” • Sending a message to our local Westminster MP • Taking pupil assemblies • Planning a special Mass on the theme of Kingdom of God • Part of E. Dunbartonshire Council’s bid to make the authority a Fair Trade Zone

Reign of God – Justice and Peace Group • Make Poverty History • Drop the Debt • Promotion of Fair Trade products • Trade Justice Issues • HIV/AIDS in Africa • Say “No” to Trident • Campaign Against Rape as a Weapon of War • Impact of Credit Crunch on the Young – BBC/G20 • Lowering of Voting Age (canvassing opinion – working with local MSP) • Christmas Card Campaign

Reign of God • Practical Examples from St. Ninian's High School • Other examples within the department: • The Life Club • Youth St. Vincent de Paul • Youth Pastoral Team

Reign of God – connections with other curriculum areas The onus placed on all disciplines and all teachers to promote the Values for Excellence – wisdom, justice, integrity and compassion – and to help young people to grow as Responsible Citizens, living and working in a global context, places RE very much at the centre of the learning process. It can be seen that the subject is an ideal partner for many departments in helping them not only to fulfil their own curricular area, but to enhance pupils’ learning experiences by making clear and explicit the links in their learning.

Reign of God – connections with curriculum areas RE and Home Economics: S4 Food Technology An RE specialist will visit the class on 2 occasions to teach on: the social & cultural context of our partners in the integrated school in Bangalore; the food laws of the different religions represented in the community issues surrounding nutrition and food hygiene in that context Christian concept of stewardship: is this lived out? views of the various religions represented at APD, and the Indian cultural view the need to consider practicality, cost and sustainability in food packaging

Reign of God –connections with curriculum areas RE and Art – Gender Stereotyping/Gender Violence All pupils spend 2 RE blocks looking at the use of gender stereotype images in advertising, looking at printed media, television and internet, and how these tie in with broad social ideas of “A Real Man” and “Being Ladylike”. They will also explore the consequences when people feel pressurised to conform to a role with which they do not truly identify, looking at education, career choice and advancement and gender violence. They examine the importance of respecting the worth and dignity of each individual as a unique work of God. Pupils will then spend time in Art & Design producing images for entry into the East Dunbartonshire Campaign against gender and domestic violence.

Reign of God – Workshop Task 1 Think of one thing you would do in your school that you would currently consider to be “extra curricular” (e.g. cake and candy sales; sponsored events; pupils working in clubs/groups; pupils helping with planning liturgy, etc.) Using the statement from “Religious Education in Roman Catholic Schools: Principles and Practice”, see how far this activity is actually fulfilling the Curriculum for Excellence guidelines. You can then apply it to the Outcomes and Experiences given for “Reign of God”

From “Religious Education in Roman Catholic Schools: Principles and Practice” • Learning through religious education enables children and young people to: • develop their knowledge and deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith • investigate and understand the relevance of the Catholic faith to questions about truth and the meaning of life • highlight, develop and foster the values, attitudes and practices which are compatible with a positive response to the invitation to faith • develop the skills of reflection, discernment, critical thinking, and deciding how to act in accordance with an informed conscience when making moral decisions • nurture the prayer life of the individual and of the school community • understand and appreciate significant aspects of other Christian traditions and major world religions • make a positive difference to themselves and the world by putting their beliefs and values into action.

Reign of God – Workshop Task 2 Choose on common topic/area from your RE programme that you would see as broadly fitting into the main ideas of “Reign of God”. How could you use other departments/curricular areas to help you in the delivery of this part of your curriculum – or are there departments/curricular areas you think you could feed into to help pupils to understand the universality of the message of the “Reign of God”?

Good Practice Conference