NSW public schools offer special religious education and special education in ethics, delivered by approved providers wherever available.
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.
At Widemere Public School, SRE is delivered on Thursdays from 9:20 - 9:50am for K-6 students.
On enrolment parents/carers will be given the SRE and SEE participation letter to complete and return. After the initial enrolment, notification of changes to a child's enrolment in SRE/SEE should be given to the front office, in writing.
The following SRE classes are offered at Widemere Public School:
Catholic SRE is provided by the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta. Catholic SRE teachers (also known as Catechists) are authorised by the local parish and trained by the Diocese of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic SRE curriculum is approved by the Bishop of the Diocese in liaison with religious education experts. Lessons include activities that are fun and inclusive for students, whilst also providing them the opportunity to critically explore in depth their faith and to pray and reflect. For more information about the Catholic SRE curriculum please visit the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta website, https://ccd.sydneycatholic.org/publications/curriculum-resources/
Catholic SRE teachers engage young people in hearing the Good News about Jesus Christ and learning the key elements of our Christian life and culture.
Combined Christian SRE is provided by Holroyd Combined Churches SRE. Christian SRE is provided by SRE teachers from different Christian denominations and churches. At Widemere Public School this is provided by representatives from Holroyd New Life Church, Australian Christian Churches NSW and Baptist Union of NSW . All Christian SRE teachers are authorised and trained by an approved provider.. The curriculum is based on Good News about Jesus Christ and learning the key elements of our Christian life and culture and can be found at Godspace: https://godspace.org.au
Christian SRE engages students in conversations as they question life, explore values and discover faith.
Islamic SRE lessons implement a specifically tailored Islamic education program for Muslim students from Kindergarten to Year 12. The program is designed to teach Muslim students the basics of Islam, nurture them to develop a strong sense of identity and purpose and inspire them to lead productive lives by contributing positively to themselves, their communities, their society and the world. The program emphasises social cohesion and is provided to all Muslims students, regardless of their sectarian groupings. The aim of the program is to teach students to love, learn and implement Islam as upright Australian citizens. For more information about the Islamic SRE curriculum please visit Islamic Charity Projects Association's website, https://icpa.org.au/scripture/
During the time that SRE classes are being held, students not attending will be located in a separate space and will participate in meaningful activities such as reading, completing homework, self-practice tasks etc.
