NSW public schools offer special religious education and special education in ethics, delivered by approved providers wherever available.
At Westmead Public School, Special Religious Education (SRE) and Special Education in Ethics (SEE) is usually delivered on Thursday from 11:30-12:00 for K-2 students, 12:00-12:30 for Stage 2 and from 12:30-1:00 for Stage 3.
On enrolment parents/carers will be given the SRE and SEE participation letter to complete and return.
If you wish to change your child's scripture group please fill in this form and send to the office.
If your preferred group is not offered then your child will attend non-scripture.
The following SRE classes are offered at Westmead Public School:
Christian SRE In agreement with the NSW Department of Education, Christian SRE are committed to supporting you through this time by providing access to useful resources that are aligned with the relevant and approved SRE curriculums.
Explore our resources including home lesson plans, faith stories, videos and much, much more. Over the coming weeks we will continue to add more content and resources for you. See the online lessons here.
Catholic SRE is provided by Catholic Diocese of Parramatta. More information about Catholic SRE, including the authorised curriculum scope and sequence, please visit their website: http://parracatholic.org/ccd-home/
The Christ our Light and Life Catholic Special Religious Education curriculum has 8 activity sheets for each year level from Kindergarten to Year 6. These activity sheets are approved by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and other NSW-ACT Catholic Dioceses to meet NSW Department of Education requirements. See the online lessons here.
Anglican SRE is provided by Sydney Anglican Diocese. More information about Anglican SRE, including the authorised curriculum scope and sequence, please visit their website: http://www.whysre.com.au/sre-curriculum/cep-curriculum-overview/
Each online Think Faith lesson includes a lesson plan, song, video link and activity page for fun and effective learning. While most lessons can be completed independently, we also encourage parents to follow along with the lessons. Take a look here!
Hindu SRE is provided by Sydney Murugan Temple and Vishva Hindu Parishad of Australia Inc. More information about Hindu SRE, including the authorised curriculum scope and sequence, please visit their websites: http://sydneymurugan.org.au/murugan2 and http://www.vhp.org.au
Islam SRE is provided by Islamic Special Religious Education. More information about Islam SRE, including the authorised curriculum scope and sequence, please visit their website: www.isre.org.au
The online ISRE program is non-sectarian and is available to all Muslims students, regardless of their religious grouping. The ISRE program teaches the basics of Islam and is designed to nurture a strong sense of identity and purpose. See K-2 lessons here and 3-6 lessons here.
Special Education in Ethics (SEE) is provided by Primary Ethics. For more information about SEE, including the authorised curriculum scope and sequence, please visit the Primary Ethics website: www.primaryethics.com.au
Primary Ethics Bites are available as audio or audio/visual recordings of between 10–15 minutes. There is a PDF version available for those students who are completing paper-based work. These lessons can be downloaded at no cost from here.
*Please note - Ethics is not available for Kindergarten at this time.
During the time that SRE/SEE classes are being held, students not attending will be located in a separate space and will participate in meaningful activities such as reading and finishing classwork.
During enrolment, you can choose a special religious education option for your child from the school’s available approved providers. You can withdraw your child from special religious education by selecting alternative meaningful activities, or special education in ethics if it’s available.
You can update your preference by writing to the school or through the online form available at participating schools.
Visit the department’s website for more information about religion and ethics.