The providers of Christian RI use authorised program resources and are committed to best-practice programs that have been reviewed by independent curriculum experts. The most popular Christian RI program resources in use in Queensland state schools are: Connect, Beginning with God and Big Questions (all published by Christian Education Publications) and GodSpace (published by Burst Christian Resources).
At our school the following programs are used:
Beginning with God
is a one-year program consisting of 40 lessons that introduces students to the key themes of the Bible and the Christian faith. Children engage with the themes through music, drama, reading and writing, puzzle-solving, drawing and asking questions.
The seven main themes for the lessons are:
God and His world
A troubled world and God's remedy (includes 2 Easter lessons)
Jesus, God's Son, is always with us
Jesus cares for people
Responding to Jesus and God
People in God's unfolding plan
God's plan fulfilled (with 4 lessons for Christmas)
See lesson structure: https://cepconnect.com.au/images/uploads/BWG-Syllabus-all.pdf
Connect is a three-year program presented across three levels of schooling – infants, lower primary and upper primary. The lessons are Bible based covering Bible history from creation to God's ultimate purpose. Each lesson introduces concepts, themes and major characters from the Old and New Testaments. Lessons also cover key Christian events such as Easter and Christmas. Students engage with the concepts through music, drama, reading and writing, puzzle-solving, drawing and asking questions.
See lesson structure: https://cepconnect.com.au/images/uploads/Connect-scope-and-sequence-all.pdf
Participating faith groups
Local Christian Churches come together to offer Christian RI on a cooperative and non-denominational basis. These local Churches may, amongst others, include Anglican, Australian Christian Churches, Baptist, Catholic, Churches of Christ, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Uniting Churches.
Outline of your Faith Group's Aims and Goals
The aim of Christian RI is to inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith from a non-denominational perspective.
Outline of lesson structure
Christian RI may involve a variety of up-to-date teaching methods including storytelling, prayer, music, drama, craft, activity books, games, quizzes, video clips and puppet shows. Program resources are written by professional educators and are age-appropriate.
Amount of time for lesson per week
Typically 30 minutes per week.
Participation in RI is not compulsory.