Accreditation Requirements
Accreditation to Teach Religion in a Catholic School All teachers of religion in Archdiocesan schools are required to be accredited to teach religion. Currently, at St Mary MacKillop, all teachers have Accreditation to Teach in a Catholic school and all teachers of Religion also have Accreditation to Teach Religion in a Catholic school. Maintenance of Accreditation As part of their professional learning, all staff are required to maintain their accreditation status by engaging in the required number of hours (25 and 25 every five years) to maintain accreditation to Teach and to Teach RE. The school provides some opportunities on Professional Learning days each year (See sample timetable) and teachers are expected to find other opportunities in their own time to complete the requirements. Professional Learning Religious educators at St Mary MacKillop engage in ongoing professional learning focused on enhancing individual and collaborative practices as well as the capacity to improve student learning. Each year staff are offered the following PL:
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Powerful Pedagogies
St Mary Mackillop's pedagogies are framed by the characteristics of Visible Learning ensuring the continuity of learning for all students within the Religion classroom and beyond. Fertile questions, learning intentions and success criteria for Religion units are displayed in all classrooms and made explicit to students and parents. Visible Learning practices allow for high quality and high equity learning outcomes for students. They are embedded in St Mary MacKillop’s processes to ensure consistency of teacher judgement and assessment in Religion. St Mary MacKillop School plans for intra and inter school moderation processes throughout the year to allow for reporting student progress in Religion to all major stakeholders. Teachers use an inquiry approach to plan and teach Religious Education, incorporating the use of digital tools to engage students. Evidence of this is shown by:
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Resourcing
St Mary Mackillop School places a high value on quality resources to be used to enhance the learning experiences of all students. The RE budget is used to purchase resources, including experiential kits for the early years, Jewish artifacts and other resources that support various units. Teachers will also received professional development from the staff of Resource Link to assist them to engage students with a broad range of quality Religious Education resources, including Web 2 tools. Priority over the past few years has been given to professional for teaching staff in the Reading to Learn program, and strategies have been identified and utilized by teachers to assist student when accessing mandated scripture and developing an understanding of the Three Worlds of the Text. Teachers also use a variety of online resources such as, Bible Gateway, BCE Learning Bytes, At One Altar and BCE Ways to Pray Calendar to engage and enhance student learning. Evidence of this is shown by:
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Effective Assessment
At St Mary MacKillop assessing student learning is an integral part of the school classroom. It improves learning and informs teaching. It is the process through which teachers identify, gather and interpret information about student achievement and learning in order to improve, enhance and plan for further learning. Staff at St Mary Mackillop School are required to meet each term in year levels to discuss student assessment in Religion. Assessment tasks are expected to meet the various needs of students in their class, and provide multiple opportunities for assessment to take place. These tasks are planned in various modes and reflect current best practice in relation to digital technologies. Staff also engage in annual CTJ opportunities and have annotated work samples prepared for intra and inter school moderation. Evidence of this is shown by:
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Feedback to Students
At St Mary MacKillop student self-assessment is regarded as vital to success at school. It involves teachers:
As noted above, Correction Criteria Matrices and Annotations provide feedback. Peer feedback occurs when students offer each other advice about their work which incorporates reference to:
Teachers who engage students in self-assessment see the responsibility for learning shifting from them to the students, see an increase in student motivation and are able to use the feedback from their students about how they learn to shape future teaching and learning. |
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Reporting Student Learning
Student achievement is recognised and celebrated within our school community in a variety of ways including at informal meetings; one on one feedback to students; parent-teacher nights; celebrations of learning; publication of works; exhibitions etc. The Student Reporting System (SRS) is Brisbane Catholic Education’s online student reporting tool. SRS facilitates the reporting of student achievement to parents and caregivers by allowing teachers and administrators to create, proofread, edit, verify and publish student reports. As has been noted previously and is evident in the school’s Religion Planning Template, Religious Education is taught and assessed with rigour and is flexible to enable each student to achieve and demonstrate what they have learned. Reporting Reporting occurs formally, in terms of reports issued, twice a year. The school’s reporting processes are as follows. We value the opportunity to inform parents of their child’s progress.
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