catholicweekly.com.au 2 NEWS 20, December, 2020 Call 02 9649 6423 or visit www.catholiccemeteries.com.au Consecrated lawns and chapels Sydney’s only Catholic crematorium Monthly mass for the Repose of Souls Funeral directors available for a Catholic service Bereavement pastoral care Serving the Catholic community for over 150 years Program emerged fromdesires of parents, teachers and clergy New curriculum ‘groundbreaking’ Bishop Macbeth-Green with his Director of Catholic Education Anthony Gordon (second from right) and the Mission and Religious Education team led by Dr Gerard O’Shea (second from left). PHOTO:TWARD I n this edition Our story begins in 1839 with the Australasian Chronicle, continuing with the Freeman’s Journal in 1850. Level 13, Polding Centre, 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9390 5400 | Vol 73, No 5164. The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by ACM Australian Community Media, 159 Bells Line of Road, North Richmond NSW, 2754. SUB-EDITOR Peter Rosengren (02) 9390 5400 REPORTERS Marilyn Rodrigues (02) 9390 5410 David Ryan (02) 9390 5408 Debbie Cramsie (02) 9390 5396 SUBSCRIPTIONS Rita Ng (02) 9390 5411 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Steve Richards (02) 9390 5404 DESIGNERS Renate Cassis Mathew De Sousa News Archbishop’s homily Features Comment, analysis 1-9 10 14 13, 16, 22-23 Faith in the trajectory of life catch it now at: thiscatholiclife.com.au LEAVE A GIFT Archdiocese of Sydney Catholic CHARITIES Order your FREE Wills and Bequests Guide today 1800 753 959 or
[email protected] myWill SUPPORTINGTHE MINISTRIES OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY Leaving a gift in a FROM P1 a structured Kindergarten to Year 6 curriculum for class- room use. “When you see this religious education in action, you can see why there is such unity (in embracing the pro- gram),” he said. “It works. “The students in our schools are thoroughly en- gaged in learning about the Catholic faith and their teach- ers are enjoying teaching a fresh and dynamic program where they see their students happy and engaged.” Highlighting the spreading awareness of the innovative approaches developed by the Diocese to the core subject of Religious Education in Catho- lic schools, the launch was attended by senior NSW and Australian Catholic education figures. Among those present were the executive director of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas MacInerney, the director of education at CSNSW, Danielle Cronin, and the deputy direc- tor of the National Catholic Education Commission Peter Hamil, representing the exec- utive director Jacinta Collins. Professor O’Shea paid trib- ute to the teachers, principals, parents and clergy who, as part of a diocesan-wide review process into education con- ducted throughout 2017-2018, expressed a desire for a new RE program that was engaging and effective. Educating in Christ is an adaptation of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for use in primary schools, includ- ing the use of smaller mate- rials, instruction booklets for teachers, and journals to allow for student assessment. The program is aimed at the “sen- sitive” period of child devel- opment as younger students respond best to tactile materi- als, Professor O’Shea said. “Nothing is taught in this program that is not based on concrete material, either three dimensional or two dimen- sional,” he explained. “It’s not just the teacher who is teaching. The environ- ment is the teacher,” he said. “Because as Cavalletti so aptly but it, human learning moves from the body, to heart, to mind.” Kerry Turner, a Year 3 and 4 teacher at St Laurence’s Pri- mary School in Forbes, said it is the best method of teaching religion she has seen. “As a practising Catholic all my life and learning to teach RE in different types of ways this is the program that speaks the best to children and to teachers,” she said. “I feel so privileged and so lucky to be here to experience it.” Her colleague, Vicki Cav- allaro, a Year 5 and 6 teacher, said that the children have the freedom to develop at their own pace a “great depth of un- derstanding”, of the connec- tions between the Scriptures, Liturgy and the Sacraments. Lucy Maslin, 12, said she likes doing religion “in the new way,” at school. “We’ve got the response time to really think it through and I like to use playdough and draw and paint in that time,” she said. “I feel a lot more connected to God.” At St Joseph’s Parish School in Condobolin, principal Jude Ryan said the program was also well-suited to students with additional needs. The launch was a red-letter day for the Diocese. Local educators attend- ed the launch, including Red Bend Catholic Secondary Col- lege Principal Stephen Dwyer, and Paula Leadbitter, Princi- pal of St Laurence’s primary school in Forbes. Also present were the dio- cese’s Chancellor Hugo Dit- roia and parish vicar of St Lau- rence’s Church in Forbes Fr Simon Apablaza. As a practising Catholic all my life and learning to teach RE in different types of ways, this is the program that speaks best to children and to teachers. I feel so privileged and so lucky to be here to experience it.” Kerry Turner, Year 3 teacher, St Laurence’s, Forbes