Spreading the Good News - SRE Newsletter Term 2 2020

No 115 Term 2 2020

Spreading the Good News

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

WELCOME Greetings and welcome to a very different Term Two. I am delighted to welcome six new Catechists/SRE Teachers and helpers since the start of 2020. Some of these SRE teachers have taught SRE in the past and have kindly returned to offer their services yet again as SRE teachers. Please note that there will be no face-to-face teaching of SRE this term.

We are certainly living during the strangest of times. I hope that you have all managed to keep busy and well. It’s been a good opportunity to catch up on all those jobs that have been waiting in the background.

I realise that it is very difficult to plan ahead because things keep changing from day to day.

So, at this stage I am not sure when we will resume our SRE classes, but I do know that we will definitely not be teaching SRE in the classrooms in Term Two. When we do eventually go back to our SRE classes, please don’t forget to teach the Easter story that most of us would not have had time to teach last term. You can choose to leave lessons out, but my advice would be just to carry on from where you left off last term. Don’t worry that all topics may not get covered but do teach the important topics such as Easter.

This is a wonderful time to catch up on your module training which can be done online. (See details below) Many good things have happened too during this time of pausing. It has given us time to slow down, appreciate our surroundings and the things that we have taken for granted. For those who participated in the driveway Anzac service you will be aware how special this time was, which would not have been experienced in this way if it had not been for this time of isolation.

At this time please don’t forget to pray for your students, the teachers in the schools who will be turning up to class each day as well as preparing all the lessons online for the students at home to work through. Pray for the parents who are now juggling work from home as well as teaching and assisting their children.

At the end of last term my daughter, who lives and works in Queensland, rang to tell me that she had been asked to step down from her work position temporarily. I was immediately filled with shock and anxiety when I heard this news. When I asked her how she was feeling, she stated that she felt hopeful. Hopeful that her employer would reconsider as she was placing all her classes online. As soon as I heard that word hopeful my whole demeanour changed. Isn’t it HOPE and TRUST that is guiding us all through these unchartered waters?

Trust in our Government that they are doing what is best for us and hope in the God who loves us that he will guide us all safely through the storm.

Take care and may God bless and keep you safe, Vicki

MESSAGE FROM JACINTA Well what a start to the year we have had!

Thank you to all of you for being patient when things were uncertain and for respecting the wishes of your school principals and then complying with the 'pause' on SRE late last term.

I know it was disappointing as it came just as lessons about Easter were about to start. It may also be a tough time for some of you with job insecurity, dealing with isolation, working in high risk environments or being out of routine. I think we need to acknowledge these things as important. As Christians, we also live with hope.

Vicki and I are in contact with all the other Catholic SRE providers in the State as well as interdenominational groups. Instead of getting this newsletter out at the very start of the term we wanted to wait until we had the latest official information. Although, as you already know, the latest information today may be out of date tomorrow. We will be staying in regular contact with you either by email (or phone for those who don't have email). If you hear things from other sources, please check with us to see if it is correct. Please check later in the newsletter for the most current information we can give you.

On a positive note, in February the Diocese held RISEN. You may have read about it in the Observer but I thought I would give you some information anyway. Thirty young people in Years 9-12 gathered with the Youth Ministers and adult helpers on the weekend of 21- 23 February.

First, they were able to attend the Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Karl Sinclair and Fr Dong Van Nguyen. They also attended the Thanksgiving Masses of the two new priests. The young people also spent time in small groups and reflecting on the Stations of the Cross with Sr Liz from Forbes. They even got to have lunch with Bishop Michael at Matthew Quinn House.

Since we are no longer able to meet in person, we extended an invitation to these young people to attend RISEN Online. The first event went really well so we have planned more for the future.

Please start to think about young people you may know in Years 6-9 who may like to attend the RISE Youth Festival in July. There is already a team hard at work planning the event.

The festival is open to all young people whether they are Catholic or not. We would love for some students who attend Public Schools to attend.

Easter blessings, Jacinta

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER TO MARY DURING CORONA PANDEMIC VIRUS O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.

We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.

At the foot of the cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith.

You, Salvation of your People, know what we need.

We are certain that you will provide so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee, joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.

Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us: He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our pleas-we who are put to the test and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen (Adapted from Vatican News)

REFLECTION Victoria Brezhnev was the first lady of the Soviet Union for 18 years. She was married to Leonid Brezhnev. Leonid led the Soviet Union through the Cold war. He was a communist and an atheist. When he died in 1982 the U.S representative George H.W. Bush VicePresident remembers being moved by Victoria’s actions that day at the state funeral. Seconds before the coffin was closed Victoria learned over her husband’s body and made the “Sign of the Cross”.

There at the centre of an atheist empire, she traced the image of our hope and salvation on the body of the man she had loved for 54 years. For to so publicly express hope in Christ in an atheist nation was an act of great courage.

This is what Mr Bush recollected.

CONGRATULATIONS FR DONG AND FR CARL Fr Dong Van Nguyen and Fr Karl Sinclair were ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Michael McKenna on Friday February 21st 2020 in the Cathedral of St Michael and St John, Bathurst.

I’m sure that you will agree that this was an unforgettable experience for all those who were privileged to have been present for this very special occasion.

The music performed by the Cathedral Men’s Choir, the Choir of the Good Shepherd Seminary and the St Stanislaus’ College Cantor Group along with Cantors Niamh Sinclair and Mr Duong Ha was truly magnificent.

Both these young men have served at Catechists for our diocese in recent times.

Congratulations Fr Dong and Fr Karl and every best wish for your future, serving as priests for the diocese of Bathurst.

Connect@home Consists of daily readings and reflections from the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst To register to receive Connect@home - simply go into the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst webpage – bathurst.catholic.org.au and follow the three simple steps.

CARELINE Is offering practical support for the elderly, vulnerable, ill and isolated during this time of COVID-19. If you or anyone you know are needing assistance in anyway contact Careline on Ph:1800 231 118 or Email: care@centacarebathurst.com.au or visit: bathurst.catholic.org.au CATECHIST SUNDAY Heartfelt thanks to all those catechists who spoke in their parishes on Catechist Sunday. This is always a great opportunity to share with parishioners the wonderful work that is done in public schools by our catechists on behalf of the parish. I have always found that this is the best way of requiting new catechists. We have had several inquiries to date and new catechists on board ready to start when SRE resumes.

WWCC – Working with Children Check Your WWCC needs to be renewed every five years.

You will receive an email from the Office of the Children’s Guardian a few months before your expiry date, reminding you to renew. Jacinta and I will remind you also. Renewal can be done online at https://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safeorganisations/workingwith-children-check you must then take your application number and

proof of identity documents to Services NSW or you can go to your nearest Services NSW centre and ask for assistance to renew. If you need further assistance to renew online you can phone the Office of the Children’s Guardian on 9286 7276.

Note: The Children’s Guardian has extended all WWCC clearances that were due to expire from 26 March 2020 to 26 September 2020 for a further six months. The six-month period applies from the date of the person’s current expiry date. Further extensions may be applied should they be needed.

The Office of the Children’s Guardian have new proof-of-identity requirements in NSW Employees and volunteers applying for or renewing a Working with Children Check will need to meet new proof-of-identity requirements. These have been enforced by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to reduce the risk of identity theft, and to further protect the safety of children.

The identification documents you provide must be original, hard copy documents and must include at least one photo ID. The combination of the identity documents collected must contain the applicant’s:  First name and surname in full (if you have changed your name you will need evidence of this)  Date of birth photograph The types of document you will need are • One commencement of identity document (such as birth certificate) • One primary use in the community document (such as driver licence) • Two secondary use in community document (such as Medicare card and bank card) When you receive your new expiry date you need to pass this information onto standards@bathurst.catholic.org.au or your parish has reply paid envelopes that you can use to post it to the Chancery.

SRE MODULE TRAINING The SRE training days which were held at the beginning of the year in Bathurst, Orange and Lithgow were all well attended. Thank you to all those who came along. Special thanks to the wonderful presenters also.

SAFE CHURCH AWARENESS WORKSHOPS The face-to-face SCAW workshops have been postponed at the moment. Our Diocese has held a trial online SCAW via Zoom and we have been working with the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) to update content and work out the best way to deliver the

content in this way. We are waiting for the latest training material and then we will advertise upcoming online SCAW workshops. It is recommended that all people in child related ministry in the Diocese attend a SCAW .

The NCCA also has other resources in this time of COVID19 available at https://www.ncca.org.au/resources-2/covid-19-resources-2 CCRESS ONLINE TRAINING Why not use this time in isolation to update and improve your teaching skills by completing some of the online training options? Every SRE teacher is required to update training regularly.

The CCRESS online training is one option for completing the required modules to become an authorised SRE teacher.

The current units are:         

Unit 0 Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8

Child Protection The SRE Teacher in the Parish and School Child and Adolescent Development Introduction to the Bible Using an Authorised curriculum The Mission and Ministry of the Church Classroom Skills- Questioning The Mission and Ministry of the Catechist Classroom Management

The modules consist of videos and readings followed by questions to check your understanding. You can work at your own pace and your progress is automatically saved so you can easily pick up where you left off.

To enrol in any of these modules, please contact Jacinta via email: sre2@bathurst.catholic.org.au. Jacinta will register you and you will be asked via email to enrol. A certificate will be issued once a module is completed. If you would like to know what is on your training record, please contact Jacinta.

TERM TWO OVERVIEW There will be no face- to- face SRE taught in classrooms during Term Two. Students will be able to continue SRE learning from home. The Department of Education will be adding links to SRE learning at home resources provided by curriculum makers to school websites.

They are also asking schools across NSW to advise all parents how to access resources that enable students to continue SRE at home. Jacinta also emailed information to parish priests, parish secretaries and parish SRE co-ordinators letting them know what is happening.

The lessons will include lesson plans for all age groups, songs, video links and activity pages.

SRE ON-LINE LEARNING • The on-line SRE portal is being constructed by a working group of ICCOREIS. The portal will be ready to launch in Week 1 of Term 2.

• Principals are directed by the Department of Education to inform school families of the SRE options in line with SRE options available in face-to-face SRE at their school.

• Parents will have access to the portal for on-line learning resources (they are not regular lessons, but home learning resources to support current materials) • The SRE options are placed in this order: Catholic/Anglican/Combined Christian SRE /All Faiths/Ethics learning.

For your information, the resources can be found at: Catholic SRE Christ our Light and Life resources https://ccd.sydneycatholic.org/publications/curriculumresources/catholic-sre-activitysheets-supporting-parental-choice/ Walking with Jesus https://www.ccress.org.au/learning-from-home-sre-lessons/ Combined SRE Connect https://cepconnect.com.au/learningathome/ GodSpace has approved the use of the Love out Loud resources which complement the GodSpace Curriculum https://www.loveoutloudoz.com/ you can make a free log in LESSON PREPARATION – some helpful hints for when we return to face-to-face teaching When preparing your lesson, my best advice to you is to not leave it until the last minute.

Ideally, it is good to have a quick glance over the lesson at least a week before, then you will have an idea of what preparation needs to be done, what aids need to be made and which resources you may need to collect. It’s amazing what wonderful ideas you can come up with if you allow the lesson to sit with you for a while.

If you are well prepared and organised and know exactly what you are going to do you will feel more confident and will have far less if any discipline problems.

So to begin: 1. PRAY for yourself, your class and your lesson.

2. AIM always read the aim of the lesson and ask yourself - What am I hoping to achieve this lesson and how am I going to achieve this aim?

3. READ your lesson through a few times during the week. Pull out the main threads of the lesson.

4. THINK about how you will MOTIVATE the class - Will I use the motivation in the Teachers Manual or will I use a different one?

5. READ the lesson story in your BIBLE. It’s a good idea to read it from a Children’s bible also.

6. DECIDE HOW am I going to tell this story?

• • • • •

Will I read the story?

Will I use pictures to tell the story?

Will the Students read all or some of the story?

Will they act it out while I read or will you give the actors a script to read?

Will I use simple costumes to enhance the story? eg- tea towels and headbands make quick great head pieces and two towels pinned together can make a simple tunic Could you tell the story using hand or finger puppets?

• Maybe I could tell the story in the form of a Godly play using the little dolly peg figures.

• Is there a suitable video clip which I could use to reinforce my lesson? If you do choose to show a video clip make sure that you have viewed it beforehand to make sure that it is suitable and age appropriate.

Once you have decided how you will present the story7. CONSIDER what QUESTIONS you will ask (How, What, When Where, Why) Perhaps even a quiz to recap the lesson.

8. DECIDE on a SONG and when the class will sing it – will you have time to teach the song or will you play it while the students complete their Workbook?

It is perfectly alright to use the same song all term if you wish.

9. THINK about how you will DISTRIBUTE BOOKS in an orderly fashion. Do you have book monitors or will you choose the students with the best manners to hand out the books.

You could mark books while the students are working or you could take them home to mark. If the students know that you are going to check their work, they will try much harder to do their best.

10. BE ORGANISED make sure that when you enter the classroom that you have everything that you need in the correct order in your bag/basket or box waiting to be used.

If you can get into the room to set up before the lesson this is ideal but not always the case.

11. FINALLY, don’t forget to PRAY with the students during the lesson. I always like to begin my lesson with a prayer and end with a prayer.

Always REMEMBER that to be able to teach children how to pray is a gift that they can take with them for the rest of their lives. Some SRE teachers meet before class to pray together as a group for the success of their lessons.

RESOURCES This term could be spent planning and getting lessons ready for when SRE classes resume.

Time could be spent making and organising teacher’s aides.

Perhaps you could be looking for suitable and age appropriate teaching resources.

It could be a good time to start thinking about and to be looking for a suitable Christmas assembly and songs. Wouldn’t it be great to get to fourth term knowing that this was already organised in advance.

SCHOOL CALENDAR Term 2: April 27th - July 3rd - No face-to-face SRE classes at this stage Term 3: July 20th - September 25th Term 4: October 12th - December 18th CHURCH CALENDAR April 25th - Anzac Day 26th - 3rd Sunday of Easter -Year A May 1st - St Joseph the Worker 3rd - 4th Sunday of Easter 10th - 5th Sunday of Easter 13th - Our Lady of Fatima 17th - 6th Sunday of Easter 24th - Ascension 25th - Our Lady Help of Christians 29th - St Peter & St Paul 31st - Pentecost Sunday June 1st - Mary Mother of the Church 7th - Trinity Sunday 14th - The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Feast of Corpus Christi ) 19th - The Most sacred Heart of Jesus 20th - The Immaculate Heart of Mary 21st - 12th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year A) 24th - Birth of John the Baptist

28th - 13th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year A) 29th - St Peter & St Paul July 3rd - St Thomas the Apostle 5th - 14th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year A) 9th - St Augustine 12th -15th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year A) 19th - 16th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year A) 22nd - St Mary Magdalene 25th - St James 27th - 17th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year A) 29th - St Martha 31st - St Ignatius Loyola Directory Vicki Mair Southern Region SRE Coordinator Home- 6332 2835 Email: vicki.mair@bathurst.catholic.org.au Jacinta Thatcher Northern Region SRE Coordinator Mobile -0418 613 684 Email: sre2@bathurst.catholic.org.au