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/carer has provided written instructions to the school.
Students are allocated to RI based on information provided by parents/carers 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/carer informs the school otherwise in writing.
A description of the RI available is provided below.
Participating Faith groups: interdenominational
Authorised program: Combined Religions RI
Aims and goals: the program covers a range of topics including life skills and values education
Lesson structure: students in the Primary Sector take 30 minute RI classes each Thursday for one semester per year - Years 1, 2 and 3 in Semester 1 and Years 4, 5 and 6 in Semester 2.
For further information, including module and/or lesson descriptors, please contact the College.
Parents/carers of students participating in these programs will be advised if a faith group requires funds to cover the expense of materials used in RI.
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 (i.e. Mathletics, Reading Eggs)
- wider reading such as independent reading appropriate to the student.
Parents/carers 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.