Connections Magazine - Term 2 2023

EasterPeople!

Catechists are Easter people; they embody their belief in the risen Christ and proclaim it with actions and words We believe our actions are what the children will most remember of their experience of Special Religious Education

Pope Francis says: “People see the Gospel in our lives; let them read the Gospel. In order to live the Gospel, we must remain with Christ.” This quote of Pope Francis describes the person of the catechist.

As you carry the joy of the Easter season into the SRE classroom, you will bring Jesus alive to the children and young people you teach with your faith and your love of the Gospel. We pray that the message of Easter will burn in their hearts so that they will be transformed by the witness you bear.

We pray that God will bless you and your families during this Easter season and always

CONFRATERNITYOFCHRISTIANDOCTRINEBROKENBAY

Caroline Chisolm Centre

423PennantHillsrd

PENNANTHILLSNSW2120

POBox340

PENNANTHILLSNSW1715

ALISON NEWELL

CCD Diocesan Coordinator

P:83791637

M:0424737911

E:alisonnewell@bbcatholicorgau

MARICEL MALAPIRA

Diocesan CCD Admin

P:83791638

E:maricelmalapira@bbcatholicorgau

KRISTY KOMADINA

North Shore Region

P:83791674

M:0400809644

E:kristykomadina@bbcatholicorgau

SUE-ANNE SHERWOOD

North Shore Region

P:83791639

M:0416141508

E:sueannesherwood@bbcatholicorgau

JOHN DONNELLY

Northern Beaches Region

P:83791640

M:0437964072

E:johndonnelly@bbcatholicorgau

Central Coast CCD Resource Centre

12AshtonAve

THEENTRACENSW2261 (BehindOLORChurch)

POBox390

THEENTRANCENSW2261

MICHAEL TEBBUTT

Central Coast Region

P:83791641

M:0407218677

E:michaeltebbutt@bbcatholicorgau

ALICIA KLEIN

Diocesan CCD Admin

P:83791642

E:aliciaklein@bbcatholicorgau

Registrations for CCD Training

P:83791643

E:registrations@bbcatholicorgau

WWJ Curriculum Resources

P:83791642

E:ccdresources@bbcatholic.org.au

FROM THE DIOCESAN COORDINATOR

Easter blessings to all our Catechists and Parish Catechist Coordinators across the Diocese. I hope you have enjoyed a beautiful autumn break during these school holidays. Many of you joined us for Ongoing Classroom Management training during the holidays. It was inspiring to see so many catechists complete this compulsory training and its always a joy when catechists come together.

The season of Easter provides us with the perfect opportunity to spread joy in our SRE classes and breathe new life into the hearts and minds of the children and young people we teach. In these days more than ever before, children and young people need to know the love of Christ and to know that they are loved immeasurably. Our lessons must deliver a message of love, and of forgiveness, mercy and peace.

Christian faith brings hope for the future and your students may be inspired with hope if you bring the love of the risen Lord into your classes.

You can bring the Walking with Jesus lessons to life in so many ways, using storytelling, drama, music, meditation, craft, and symbolism to assist the learning process. For the Easter season leading into Pentecost, bring yellow and white flowers from the garden to adorn your sacred spaces and holy water to bless the children. Use the language of ‘new life’ Light a candle (battery in the classroom). Talk about Easter eggs that are a symbol of new life. At Pentecost, introduce red flowers to your sacred space as we focus on the Holy Spirit in our lives.

A Catechist’s checklist

Have I diligently prepared my lesson using the authorised Diocesan CCD curriculum: Walking with Jesus Pathways of Discipleship?

Am I aware of teaching materials and resources available to support my lessons? (eg Powerpoints)

Are my additional resources age-appropriate?

Do I teach with sensitivity, conscious of the learning ability of the children?

Am I aware of the diverse range of students in my class?

Do I value the dignity of each child?

Do I understand the developmental stages of children?

Do I respect the students’ personal space?

Do I use the students’ names when speaking to them?

As you bring this message of joy to the children, always remember to “practice what you preach”. Proclamation of the Gospel loses its impact if we are not a witness to what we are preaching. When you greet the children – smile! Model the joy that faith can bring into their lives through your example in the classroom. Even when disciplining children, do so in a spirit of Christian love.

Term 2 is a good time to check that we are on task in our ministry and to revisit the reason we became a catechist in the first place. The Catechist checklist on this page might help.

Wishing you every blessing in term 2!

Alison Newell

Always remember to

Check that your ongoing training is up to date each year

Sign the attendance book for visiting SRE teachers when you arrive at the school.

Wear your authorisation card in the lanyard provided which displays your name

Greet the classroom teacher and use their name.

Discover and follow the school rules concerning discipline, toilets, use of equipment and technology and be familiar with the school procedures

Never leave the class unattended

Leave the classroom tidy

Keep a record of the number of students in the class – this will assist your Parish Coordinator when we do our annual census of student numbers

Notify the appropriate person if unable to attend due to illness or an emergency.

yourstudents!

I’m still coming down from my Easter high as I write this. I’m sure you are too. I love the Triduum Masses – even joined the Easter combined choir this year. Special times with family and memories created.

After the big Easter lunch preparation, it’s also a time for a break, a time to take a breath, which you, Catechists really deserve. Thank you for being the face of God to our children.

First term was a busy term, negotiating getting back into schools and fitting in teaching the Easter curriculum into a short term (PS we can still teach Easter Curriculum until Pentecost, if you’ve not finished the Unit). This past term is a huge term for training – Welcome to all our newly signed up Catechists and we trust you feel ready to be in classrooms after attending the CCDMI and are enjoying meeting fellow Catechists in your Parish. Remember, there is always support for you if you have a difficult class. Call on your Co-ordinator for intervention or mentoring, ask the class teacher for advice or call on your Regional Co-ordinator to come work through strategies in the classroom with you.

Although Zoom training is convenient and time efficient, especially for working people, it has also been a pleasure presenting the Ongoing Classroom Management face to face. We love to meet with you on Zoom and in the flesh, but training becomes even more relatable and engaging when face to face especially when you’re doing ongoing training that is more hands-on and practical. Please remember that when registering for the Ongoing Teaching the Authorised Curriculum in July.

Enjoy teaching in Term 2!

As Catechists, we all have our own story of how we come to this ministry and why we stay year after year. For me, I was a young mum, my youngest child was finally in preschool and I finally had time to turn outside the home and do something meaningful with my time. My older children had benefited from SRE and I thought, "Hey, I could do that."

After a couple of years and through the busyness of life, I thought about giving up. I was involved in the music ministry at my church and I found myself volunteering heavily at my children's school. Sometimes the thought of facing my classes, with their cheekiness and distractedness felt like an uphill battle that I didn't want to face any more.

If Jesus has taught us anything by his death and resurrection, it's that being his follower isn't meant to be easy. We are all called to "go and make disciples", just as the early Christians were, filled with the Holy Spirit.

You'll be pleased to know that I stayed and I'm still here! As the years roll on, being a Catechist becomes easier as you grow more comfortable in your skin, as you teach the same lessons again and again. Your confidence grows and you begin to try new ways to make your lessons engaging and meaningful.

I am reminded of this when I have the privilege of presenting ongoing training to experienced Catechists. There is always a fresh approach or something new to apply to teaching SRE.

May you be filled with the Holy Spirit this term and bring a new vigour to your classes!

Here at CCD we are working together achieving greater things. As one of the admin team, I love to look at statistics.

In Term 1, there were 41 new catechists to whom we issued a yellow provisional card when they completed the initial training of Safeguarding. There were 30 catechists who received their green full authorisation card upon completion of the CCD Ministry Induction Training. As they say, once a catechist, always a catechist--- there were 7 Catechists who decided to return to the ministry and 2 have been re-authorised in another parish. This authorisation process continues to inspire us to do our very best work and even though the admin seems never ending at times, we keep persevering to get more new and returning Catechists into classrooms. We are also very lucky to have issued 48 Clergy Cards to priests around the diocese and hopefully this means that there will be many visits by them to our SRE lessons this year.

We are also seeing a marked increase in attendees at training sessions across the board, indicating to me that there is a culture change for the better amongst catechists who recognise the importance of ongoing training The mandatory training report given to each parish coordinator at the beginning of the year was useful in determining who needs updating.

We anticipate receiving more Service Award Applications as Term 2 recommences. Please complete the application form and return it to CCD before the deadline - Friday 2 June. We would be delighted to process your application to honour that wonderful work you do.

What does it mean to be Easter People? We know that His rising is not a ‘once and for all’ event or is it? As Catholic Christians we believe that God raised Jesus from the tomb three days after his death on the cross. We know this because the women and the apostles witnessed not only the death, but the tomb and also the risen Lord. The Gospels beautifully convey their accounts of these miraculous events. Our task as catechists is to tell these stories and to bear witness to them.

Throughout the Walking with Jesus program there are units and lessons which present the central belief of a resurrected Jesus to students in age appropriate ways. This belief is the foundation of our faith and it imbues believers with a tremendous sense of hope. We are privileged to share this message with students in our Catholic SRE classes.

The liturgical season of Easter extends well into Term 2, so there will be plenty of time to present the resurrection and post resurrection gospel stories to our students. Lessons from the Emmaus journey to the BBQ breakfast by the sea right up to Pentecost give us opportunities to witness to our faith. My personal favourite is the story of Thomas in the Gospel according to John. Here is a person who refuses to believe without proof. Who after being challenged by the risen Jesus declares – My Lord and my God. This story speaks to our modern students who are well schooled in scientific method and heavily influenced by cynicism and scepticism.

Whatever lessons you are presenting and whenever you are presenting them be sure to do so with the joy and hope of Easter People who appreciate what the Resurrection means for everyone.

There are some new recruits joining this ministry here on the coast but at least 2 parishes are still in dire need for more recruits.

The high school students from St Joseph’s and St Edward's have been trained and are now assisting the teachers at East Gosford PS. Unfortunately, there has been no response from the Wyong Parish schools that were approached last year, as to their allowing St Peter’s secondary students to assist the catechists there. This is very disappointing.

Secondary SRE is continuing across the Central Coast, with Gosford parish beginning classes in 2 high schools after an absence of some years due to lack of catechists. Wyoming Secondary team is having trouble getting into 2 of the 3 high schools. Terrigal and Kincumber are working steadily with the students in their high schools. Unfortunately, the high school student numbers are low. Some catechists have had trouble with music on the PowerPoints but that was due to them playing then on the website before downloading the PowerPoint. They must be downloaded and saved on usb for the music and videos to work properly. It is great to see that catechists are beginning to request resources from the Resource Centre at The Entrance once more.

I have been able to catch up with some catechist teams at the parish meetings this term and would love to be able to attend more parish meetings in the coming terms. Please, let me know the dates of your catechist meetings.

The on-going training in Classroom Management in Flexible Learning Spaces at Terrigal was well attended and there was much lively discussion on this topic. It is great to be able to see the catechists face to face again in the training situation.

Easter Blessings!

Welcome back to Term 2! Wow, didn’t term 1 just whizz past?! The old saying “time flies when you’re having fun” really rings true for me at the moment. I’m really enjoying learning my role here at the CCD, every day is different and presents new challenges, which I love!

I spent much of term 1 getting to know many of our wonderful catechists who called or emailed me to ask a question or register for training. And didn’t we do a lot of training! Hats off to Alison, Sue-Anne, Kristy, John and Michael, who between them have presented over 30 training sessions already this year. And there’s more to come with our Level 1, Part B ‘Tools for the Classroom’ course starting early May, as well as ongoing ‘Authorised Curriculum’ training for experienced catechists being held in the next school holidays.

I’ve also helped some of our Parish Coordinators ‘top-up’ their orders of Walking With Jesus student workbooks and teachers manuals for the new school year. This is a great sign that student numbers are increasing and more teachers manuals mean we have more catechists to share their faith with the children of our parishes – so fantastic!

Lastly, we’ve added more Walking With Jesus Powerpoints to the CCD Website to complement your lessons in Term 2. Don’t forget to download the Powerpoint file before using it - don’t play it directly from the website as you might miss some of the functionality, such as the beautiful music! Instructions for how to download can be found on the website.

Wishing you all a very healthy and happy Term 2.

Let us take some time to consider the Easter events I have heard some of the catechists commenting on how difficult it has been to teach everything about Easter that is in our workbooks this year There just haven’t been enough lessons available

Well the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection on that first Easter Sunday is only the halfway mark of our Easter celebrations In our liturgy, we speak of the Weeks of Easter Easter is an eight-week celebration with The Ascension and Pentecost, being weeks 7 and 8 of Easter

So let us go back to the Scriptures and see what is happening to make Easter a fifty-day celebration

We are very familiar with the events of Jesus’ Passion, Death and His Resurrection Unfortunately, for some of us, Easter finishes on Easter Monday or when the Easter eggs have all been eaten But Jesus had some unfinished business to take care of before he returned to His Father For three years, he had been teaching his disciples and those who would listen to Him, about the love of His and our Father and He showed this love through the miracles He performed in the Father’s name.

He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

Luke 4: 17 - 19

After Jesus rose from the dead, there were instances where Jesus appeared to the disciples and others He had to confirm His friends’ belief in him, convince them that He was well and truly alive and that they would not be left alone to fend for themselves

How did Jesus do this?

Put yourself in the place of Cephas and the other disciple as they slowly walked away from Jerusalem after the death and burial of Jesus (Luke 24:13 – 35) They were disappointed and saddened that Jesus was not the messiah they were expecting They were heading home to resume the way they lived before a new and vibrant hope had been planted in their hearts by the words and actions of Jesus.

As the two were walking along the road, they met a stranger and told Him all that had happened The stranger then explained those events in the light of the Old Testament Scriptures They still did not recognise Him It wasn’t until they sat down at table with the stranger and He gave thanks and broke the bread and gave it to them, that they realised the stranger was their dear friend Jesus

PENTECOST TO

What about the disciples who had remained in Jerusalem (Luke 24: 36 – 49) They had locked themselves in the upper room, fearing for their lives The city was still crowded with pilgrims who had travelled for the Passover Festival and the Roman soldiers were still on the lookout for anyone who was out to disturb the peace It was a dangerous place for those who were known associates of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus suddenly appeared in the room with them. They thought they were seeing a ghost but Jesus wished them peace and asked them for something to eat, as ghosts do not eat He showed them the wounds in his hands and feet

He reassured them that He was real He calmed them by wishing them peace All this time, the forty days after the resurrection, Jesus was preparing the disciples for His departure Jesus’ return to the Father was the next step of the salvation process

The disciples were now convinced that Jesus was alive, and that He had risen from the dead But before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told His friends to return to Jerusalem and wait To wait for the Holy Spirit

Pentecost is the completion of the Easter event

The promise of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled and the disciples, now known as apostles, are sent out on mission to continue the work of Jesus in bringing about the Kingdom of God

So where are we on this journey from Easter to Pentecost?

Are we sitting in the upper room during these fifty days, fearing for our lives and waiting for the Holy Spirit so we will be brave enough to go out face the world?

Or like the disciples, are we going about our lives, praying and meditating on the events of Easter and the significance of these events for our lives?

Are we eagerly awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit who will enable us to continue the work that Jesus has given us as we continue to teach the children in our SRE classes?

Michael Tebbutt

STUDENTS REACHING FAMILIES THROUGH

A kinder student once asked their religion teacher, ‘Can I tell my family about God because I don’t think they have heard about Him ’ Well, let’s hope many kids did tell their family about God and everything else they learnt about in Catholic Scripture (SRE) lessons

The Walking with Jesus program is written with the intention of engaging the students as well as their families in faith formation There are lessons which draw upon students’ home lives and activities which involve conducting surveys or discussion at home

As many Catechists know those students from families who share a faith life are often well informed and well formed. We cannot assume that just because they send their children to State Schools that families are not practicing. Bearing in mind, there are many ways to practice our faith.

Recently a new catechist asked permission to give her class some sheets to take home to their families They were delighted to discover that many suitable sheets were already available In fact, every unit in the program has a Family Supplement and in Kinder there is one for every lesson These are available on the Diocesan CCD website under Curriculum

https://www bbcatholic org au/evangelisati on/ccd/curriculum/classroom-familyresources

You are encouraged to print these, take them to class and hand them out inviting students to share them with their families It is sometimes even possible in the next lessson, to ask students about the activity – how family members responded for example. As many Sacramental Catechists know - The more families engage in the formation of children the stronger their faith development will be.

One of my favourite supplements invites families to chart the different breads they eat in a week This is part of the Bread of Life lesson in Stage 3 (Cycle A) There have been many reports from students whose brothers and sisters have asked what this chart is all about We can well imagine the ensuing conversations in these homes about Jesus, bible stories, the Mass and Communion

As part of the authorised curriculum these take-home supplements are already approved to be sent home, so feel free to use them regularly

We catechists are called to be sowers of seeds Some of these seeds fall on rocky ground others on rich soil – you know the story Sending family supplements home is another very effective way we can spread the seeds of faith further afield

John Donnelly

MARY'S MONTH

If you ' re looking for a simple way to include more Mary in your lessons in May, check out the worksheets over the next 4 pages

Why is May known as the month of Mary?

Mary was a faithful and loyal mother. She was the first disciple; obviously, Mary would be with the apostles as they welcomed the Spirit of wind and fire, culminating in the birth of the Church.

There are many reasons Mary is considered the “Queen of Heaven.” She is a perfect follower of Christ and therefore is considered the crown of creation. She is also the mother of Jesus, the most important woman of our faith and our spiritual mother.

The tradition of the May Crowning came about in the 13th century when an image or statue of Mary is crowned with a wreath of flowers. In the Northern Hemisphere, May was considered the end of winter and the start of a new season of growth. It’s a time for new beginnings and the chance to begin with gratitude and devotion. This simple ceremony and the reason we honour Mary carries deep meaning for the Catholic faith. The May Crowning didn’t have a set date and can be celebrated any time during the month, including Mother’s Day.

In 2018, Pope Francis decreed the Feast of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church on the Monday after Pentecost (29 May 2023). John's Gospel reading recounts how, from the cross, Jesus entrusted Mary and the disciple whom He loved to care for each other as mother and son. As our spiritual mother, we can ask her for help in our difficult moments as any child does with their mother.

Mary is an example of a committed “Yes” to the will of God. Let us look at Mary’s example of how a disciple interprets and responds to Christ’s teachings. Let us sit in that room with Mary and the apostles and welcome the Spirit into our lives again this year, so that we may go out and spread the Good News with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Sue-AnneSherwood

What can you do as Catechists?

Perhaps you might like to celebrate the May Crowning in your own home, during a lesson on Mary, or at beginning of class prayer and have a special encounter with Christ through the Virgin Mary

WE LEARN ABOUT MARY IN OUR CURRICULUM IN THE FOLLOWING LESSONS:

Kindy: * K.7.2 Holy Family; K.9.1 Mary Said ‘Yes’; K.10.3 Nativity

Stage 1: 1.9.1 Mary; 1.11.3 All Kinds of Prayers; 1.19.2 Mary & Joseph; * 1.20.3 A Baby is Born;

Stage 2: 2.15.1 What a Girl!; * 2.15.2 Magnificent Prayer; 2.15.3 Mary: A Model to Follow; * 2.15.4 Hail Mary

Stage 3: 3.10.1 Jesus’ Family; 3.20 Christmas: The Nativity

Stage 4: 8.3.3 Mary Jesus' First Disciple; 8.8.1 Mary, the Model Disciple; 9.10.1 Borne

The "Hail Mary" prayer can be located on page 2-3 in every student book. Use the month of May to pray one each lesson.

Take a look at our Family Supplements for additional Mary content.

https://www.bbcatholic.org.au/evangelisati on/ccd/curriculum/classroom-familyresources

Mary the Mother of Jesus

Mary and the Angel Gabriel

The Power of Play

How Wooden Dolls Can Help You Teach Bible Stories

in your SRE classes.

Take inspiration from our K-2 teachers at Catholic Schools Broken Bay by presenting bible stories as Godly Play using wooden dolls you make yourself.

Keep brushes clean

It’s a good idea to have 2 sets of jars, one for dirty water and one for clean

Use paper towels to wipe brushes

Protect the wood with spray varnish at the end

When finished, keep your dolls in a labelled container/box ready for next use

Enjoy using the dolls to complement your lessons!

We have many more tips and suggestions to share – please contact CCD on 8379 1642 and we’d be happy to help!

Last December, during our Advent Reflection Days at The Entrance and Terrey Hills there was a session on how to design, paint and use ‘Wooden Dolls’ as a tool for ‘Godly Play’ in the classroom

For those who attended and need a refresher, and for those who didn’t attend, we want to provide some brief instructions and images to inspire you to create and use these dolls Parish Coordinators have been provided with details of how they might obtain a supply of these wooden dolls, so that interested catechists can create dolls, or sets of dolls, in various themes (e g The Nativity, The Last Supper) to be used to complement the lesson plans in your teachers' manuals

Think about which character/s you need to make

Sketch out each design on paper first

When happy with the design, sketch on to the doll

Materials needed:

Wooden dolls – various sizes, buy from Spotlight, craft suppliers, ebay, Amazon

Paint brushes – various sizes

Paint

Marker pens

Paper towel

Jars for water

Pencil and paper

Spray varnish

Paint body first

Paint the clothes – hold the doll by the head

Paint as if you are “dressing” the doll, i e first layer of clothing first

Next paint hair

Then paint face if you wish

Lastly paint in any of the finer details

For small details use a small fine liner brush or paint pen

To paint eyes or dots use the end/tip of the brush

Alicia Klein

To register for either the Reflection day or the Level 1 Training, please email registrations@bbcatholic org au or phone 02 8379 1643

Check out what's coming up in Training and Formation!

Our "Come Holy Spirit" reflection day is open to all Catechists.

Level 1 training is the completion of the CCDMI, but also anyone looking to brush up on skills is encouraged to register.