Oatlands College CBS

 Religious Education/Pastoral Programme

INTRODUCTION

Religious instruction and Pastoral Care within Oatlands, although the responsibility of all members of staff, is the particular responsibility of the Religion Department, which consists of four teachers: Noel Collins (Head of Dept), Leigh Phelan, Linda Beirne and Sinead Mulvally under the auspices of the Principal Keith Ryan.

The aim of the Religion Dept. is to provide students with amble opportunity to develop spiritually and personally; to be individuals who can think for themselves and apply the Christians values to their own lives. We endeavor to achieve this by encouraging students to participate in social justice activities such as the Indian Immersion Project organized in conjunction with the Christian brothers. Recently, Staff members Jack Mc Glade, Stevie Tobin and Brian Kehoe, along with Oatlands T.Y. students Conor Caulfield, Michael Corr, Robert Corr, David Doyle, Sam Dunne, Daniel Fox, Evan Heritage, Shane Lauritsch, Peter Mc Carthy and Finnian O Neill travelled to India visiting schools, hospitals, leper colonies and slums. This visit impressed upon the students so much that on returning home they organized a large-scale fundraising campaign throughout the school in order to pay for the cost of treatment for a number of terminally ill cancer patients living in India.

At Oatlands College we shrive to maintain a pro-active approach to Christianity. For example, an annual event amongst students and staff is the Christmas Shoe box appeal or Operation Christmas Child. Each student is invited to fill a shoebox with Christmas gifts, which in turn will be sent worldwide, bringing hope to children in desperate situations.

The College annually fundraises for the St. Vincent de Paul Christmas appeal by Carol Singing in the local shopping centre with first year choir students.

The Religion Dept., in addition to encouraging charitable activities, also seeks to develop the spirituality and moral formation of all students through participating in frequent liturgies, mediations and charity-drives.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Religious Education holds a central place in the life of Oatlands College. The recent addition of our new prayer room designed by Fergus Costello alongside students and parents is a testament of the centrality of Religious Education.

In 2006, over eighty students were among the first to successfully complete the Junior Certificate Religious Education Exam in the history of Oatlands. The success of the Religious Education programme is due to the resources made available by the college. The school’s ongoing commitment of employing fully trained catechists has greatly raised the status of Religious Education as a subject that implements the school’s mission statement fully.

JUNIOR CYCLE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

From first to third year, students are assigned a R.E. teacher for three classes per week. In addition to being assigned a class teacher, students are also assigned a class tutor whose responsibility is primarily pastoral. All students experience meditation and personal reflection and over time develop a more mature faith and understanding of Christianity. The structure of the Junior Certificate R.E.  course follows plan B of the course which reflects the liturgical year. Prayer services are integral to college life in the sense that the liturgical year is reflected in college life. Moreover, marking the liturgical year in a visual sense is important to the community of Oatlands.

Junior Certificate Religious Education may be studied at Ordinary or Higher level. The course consists of two parts:

Part 1
Students take any two of the following:
Section A - Communities of Faith
Section B - Foundations of Religion - Christianity
Section C - Foundations of Religion - Major World Religions

Part 2
Students take all of the following:
Section D - The Question of Faith
Section E - The Celebration of Faith
Section F - The Moral Challenge

Junior Certificate Religious Education students are also assessed on a project called the Religious Education Journal worth 20% of the entire marks. The Journal consists on the students’ personal reflection on one aspect of the Junior Certificate R.E. syllabus.

TRANSITION YEAR

Transition Year students annually take part in the ‘Schools Across Borders Programme’.  As part of this initiative 12 Israeli and 12 Palestinian students visited Ireland in December and January 2006. Some of these students stayed in the homes of Transition Year students.                

This project aims to show teenagers from areas involved in conflict that people of their own age on the ‘opposite side’ are not so different and could even share similar views on the conflict.  Also as part of the scheme some Oatlands T.Y students visited schools in Belfast whom they co-operated with during the programme. The main aims of this project was not to force the views of others upon students but rather to improve relations, break down negative stereotypes and better educate the masses.

FIFTH YEAR

Students begin fifth year with a module on science and religion. This module complements the Junior Certificate Religious Education syllabus. In addition to this module, students follow the Religious Education framework. The framework is presented in eight sections and it is recommended that students study at least two sections each year. The selection and sequencing of the sections can be varied to suit teacher and student interests. However it might be useful to use Section A as an introduction to the whole programme of work.

Section A: The search for meaning
Section B: Christianity
Section C: Religious faiths in Ireland today
Section D: Morality in action
Section E: God-talk
Section F: A living faith - doing justice
Section G: Celebrating faith
Section H: Story

SIXTH YEAR

In Sixth Year students cover four of any six main topics.

(i)                Issues in Justice and Peace       (Section F)

(ii)             The Search for meaning            (Section A)

(iii)           Eschatology –heaven, hell, death and the Last Judgment.

(iv)           Cults and New Religious Movements

(v)              World Religions

(vi)           Crime and Punishment

In addition to covering the above topics, sixth year students are frequently amalgamated for a presentation by a guest speaker. For example, recently students met an ex-prisoner from the pathways project who shared his story about his life choices. Students also received a detailed presentation from Harpreet Singh, a member of the Sikh Council of Ireland, on the main tenets of Sikhism.

STUDENTS OF OTHER FAITHS/RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION

All students are required to study religion at all levels in Oatlands College as outlined in the school’s Religious Education Policy (see policy for more details). Although Oatlands College is a Catholic College, students belonging to other major world religions are welcomed in Oatlands. It is important to note that students are not tested on their faith, but rather, their knowledge of religion. The school’s prayer room is available to all students for communal worship, in that class groups are frequently brought to the prayer room. All students are encouraged to attend the prayer room for personal reflection and prayer in between and outside class time.

ATHEISTS AND STUDENTS OF NO AFFILIATION TO A RELIGION/FAITH COMMUNITY

While a belief in God is beneficial in the study of Religion at Oatlands, it is not essential. A student does not need to believe in God in order to study Religion. Students will not, under any circumstances, be tested on their religious belief or lack of. More specifically, students are examined on their knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes of the subject content. Each student will bring their own unique questions and contribution to the study of Religious Education at Oatlands College.