Queensland state schools embrace a multitude of cultural, religious and non-religious beliefs. Under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, schools are to provide Religious Instruction (RI) if approached by a faith group seeking to provide RI and students of that faith attend the school.
RI informs students about the beliefs and values of a particular religion. It is delivered by volunteers of a faith group using instructional materials approved by that faith group. RI is required to be consistent with legislation and Department of Education policies and procedures.
All RI instructors must hold a blue card and participate in compulsory Student Protection and Code of Conduct training. RI instructors are only entitled to deliver the RI program outlined below. A school staff member will be present during the delivery of RI.
Participation in RI is not compulsory. Any student (except Prep students) may participate in RI if a parent has provided written instructions to the school.
Students are allocated to RI based on information provided by parents on the completed Application for student enrolment unless other written instructions have been provided to the school.
Note: This consent remains in effect unless the parent informs the school otherwise in writing.
A description of the RI available is provided below.
Christian Religious Instruction
Participating faith groups:
- Anglican Church
- Baptist Church
- Catholic Church
- Wesleyan Methodist Church
- Uniting Church
- Presbyterian Church
- Seventh Day Adventist Church
- The Salvation Army
- Australian Christian Churches
- International Network of Churches
- Fire Church Ministries
- Any Christian church
Authorised programs for Years 1-6: Connect - Beginning with God - Big Questions by Christian Education Publications (CEP); GodSpace by Burst Publications.
The Bible is our foundational text.
The multi faith peak body has more information regarding all the above curricula: Multi-Faiths RI Peak Body.
Aims and goals: To inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith from a non-denominational perspective.
Lesson structure: RI lessons are delivered weekly on a specific day and are 30mins in length.
Other Instruction
Students who are not participating in RI will be provided with other instruction in a separate supervised location. Other instruction must relate to part of a subject area already covered in class and may include:
- personal research and/or assignments
- revision of class work such as creative writing or literacy and/or numeracy activities which could include online programs currently accessed by the students of that school
- wider reading such as independent reading appropriate to the student
- Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) lessons
Parents will be advised of any changes to the RI and other instruction programs to ensure they are able to make an informed decision on their child's participation.