​In all of the Catholic Schools across the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Religious Education comprises two distinct but complementary dimensions: teaching people religion (the classroom teaching and learning of religion) and teaching people to be religious in a particular way (the religious life of the Catholic school).

In response to changing demographics and the introduction of the Australian Curriculum the Religion Curriculum has undergone significant change. This year the new Religion Curriculum P -­‐12 was launched, which has now been granted the Imprimatur by Archbishop Mark Coleridge for use in all Archdiocesan schools.

The Religion Curriculum P-­‐12 describes core content that is to be taught and that students should learn and is therefore the starting point for all planning for teaching, learning and assessing of Religion in schools. The four strands of the Religion Curriculum P-­‐12 are interrelated; their content is taught in an interrelated way.

Religion Curriculum

At St Vincent’s all staff have been engaged in Professional Learning throughout the year, this will continue as it is anticipated that it will be a 3-year implementation process of the new curriculum.

At St. Vincent’s School the classroom learning and teaching of religion aims to develop the religious literacy of our students to enable them to participate critically and effectively in the life of their faith communities and the wider society.

Religious Life of the School

In 2008 Brisbane Catholic Education Office released “Guidelines for the Religious Life of the School”. These guidelines provide support to the Vision Statement for Catholic Education in the Archdiocese, to “teach, challenge and transform.” This helps our school community engage in practical ways to live out our Mercy identity and culture. They provide learning opportunities that build Christian community in which the Gospel and the work of the Church are experienced as alive and tangible, making the mystery of God’s love and the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to our children. They promote evangelisation and faith formation, encourage active participation in prayer and worship and help us engage with social action and justice.

Our Mercy Charism

At St. Vincent’s School we draw on the richness of our Mercy heritage. Our school motto, Misericordia, means mercy. Mercy is God’s compassion; God’s loving kindness reaching out to all. Mercy is love in action. Misericordia highlights our historical connection to the spirit of the Mercy Sisters, founded by Catherine McAuley.

We recognise St. Vincent de Paul, a priest, after whom our school is named. Vincent lived a life of service. He revolutionised religion by returning to the basics Jesus taught; feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted, nursing the sick, caring for children and the elderly.

We acknowledge that our school covenant guides our daily actions. Together our community is called to contribute to the shared stories and vibrant memories of St. Vincent’s School. Our covenant, together with the attributes of our religious patrons, Vincent and Catherine provides us with our Mercy Qualities:

• Quality Relationships
• Responsibility
• Care and Compassion
• Spirituality and Faith
• Honesty, Integrity and Trustworthiness
• Understanding, Tolerance and Inclusion
• Dignity and Justice
• Stewardship
• Embracing Life

At St. Vincent’s we strive to live our everyday lives according to the Mercy Qualities. Together, staff, children and parents endeavour to build and maintain a community which values quality relationships and where we each strive to be more like Jesus.

The Mercy Qualities Program seeks to further develop our children as well rounded community members who are challenged to live the gospel of Jesus Christ every day.

Celebrating Liturgy and Sacraments at St Vincent’s School

At St Vincent’s School we celebrate Liturgy and Sacraments on a regular basis. Every Monday morning we begin our week with Prayer Assembly led by individual classes. Themes for this are based around our Mercy Qualities Program or special Feast days. We have liturgies for special days, for example, Under 8s Day and Book Week.

As a whole school, we celebrate mass. Years 4 through to 6 also organise individual masses at a class level. We celebrate whole school liturgies at the beginning of the year and at the end of each term. We also organise a combined Schools Parish Sunday Mass with St Kevin’s School once per term.

Children at our School have the opportunity to participate in the Parish Sacramental Program.  The school supports this program by working closely with the parish team. Our teachers show their support for the parish program by volunteering to help with of the program and by structuring our teaching of the sacraments to coincide with the Parish Sacramental Program. Follow this link to the Surfers Paradise Catholic Parish web site.​

At St. Vincent’s we ritualise our every day life by ensuring that the catholic tradition and gospel teachings permeate throughout the curriculum areas. Our Religion Program provides valuable opportunities for the explicit teaching of Christian values in the Catholic tradition. We value daily prayer as an important way of nurturing the spiritual development of the whole school community.

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