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 ; Apostolic; Australian Christian Churches (Lighthouse Community Church Bauple/Maryborough Christian Church/Tinana Christian Church; Reach Church ); Queensland Baptist; Catholic Church ; Christian Outreach -Victory Church; Church of Christ(Door of Hope); Church of the Nazarene (Maryborough Family Church/Richmond Street Community Church); Gospel Chapel; Lutheran Church (Evangelical Lutheran Church /St Matthews); Presbyterian Church; Red Dirt Church; Salvation Army; Seventh Day Adventist; Uniting Church; Wesleyan Methodist (Grace Community Church/Life Church
Authorised program: God Space -Burst, Baptist Churches of NSW
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
Lesson structure: Lessons are delivered by a religious leader or their representative and supervised by a teacher. Lessons are held once per month, generally on the third Tuesday of the month.
For further information, including module and/or lesson descriptors visit: www.godspace.org.au
Parents of students participating in these programs will be advised if a faith group requires funds to cover the expense of materials used in RI.