ketekorero November 2015
7
school news Making faith a part of pupils’ lives Religious education is integrated across the curriculum at St Thomas More Catholic School in Mount Maunganui. Director of Religious Studies Anthony Mills (pictured) says this is carried through programmes taught at the school, such as literacy, maths, social studies, arts and science. At the beginning of each term, staff set about planning together on some basic topics and themes to come up with what is entitled “The Big Idea”. The teachers go into their teams and break it down into their specific year levels. “The big idea for term four is Leaving a Legacy and focussed on people who inspire us. “This involves exploring the communion of saints, as well as looking at other people who inspire us generally and in our local community.” The focus last term was on the four elements: earth, fire, water and air. “We were learning about how God is experienced through the elements, and this then related to a
Art work from the earth, fire, water and air focus.
curriculum focus on visual art and performing arts. An end-of-term exhibition showcased art based on the themes connecting the elements, scripture and the Holy Spirit.” Specific achievement objectives in the RE curriculum are drawn out to relate to the current big idea. Each team at a particular year level will explore and brain storm ways in which this can be connected to classroom learning experiences.
The RE connected curriculum is usually geared towards some kind of celebration of learning at the end of the term by way of a school Mass, parents’ evening or community event. The change in how RE was introduced into the curriculum came about four years ago, reflecting the belief it was felt as a more authentic way of teaching RE that made it more relevant and current for the children. A two-year cycle approach allows for curriculum objectives unable to be covered in one year, to be incorporated into the next year’s programme. Anthony says the children find that the RE learning becomes more relevant for them and able to be
linked to their other learning areas. “It enables the students to go a bit deeper in their faith, because they can make connections to other parts of their world through literacy, social studies, science, arts and technology . “They see that their faith is a core part of their life, so they see it as a way of being rather than in isolation.” This sense of faith at the core is also stressed in other parts of school life, such as weekly Gospel Liturgies, praying for sports team before competitions and prayer liturgy for those attending parent evenings. Anthony has been at St Thomas More for 10 years, with six years as DRS after going into teaching following advertising agency work.
– transformation, excellence, Catholicity, relationship, justice and the common good.” Events such as the grounding of the Rena and the downturn in kiwifruit production in 2011 badly hurt local schools. However, record numbers of people now want to live in one of the country’s most thriving areas. Kath has appealed to parents of existing pupils wanting to enrol their pre-schoolers to notify the school as soon as possible as pressure mounts from new families coming to live in the region. “We are getting a lot of phone calls or inquiries from out of towners who are shifting to the Mount/Papamoa area.” People uniformly told her the
reason they chose St Thomas More was that the web site contained a great deal of information, it was easy to navigate and they found answers to questions easily. Although many were people shifting down from Auckland, other inquiries included immigrants from the United Kingdom and a proportion from Brazil coming to work in the local beach-side food and entertainment sector. However, open areas on the St Thomas More school site which could be used to build more classrooms are very limited. The school is ideally located for access, transport and amenities. Sports games, cross country and athletics take place on the public reserve next door, and seniors play there at lunchtimes. The school is lucky to be able to use the parish centre and church facilities for assemblies and liturgies, concerts and evening events. Kath, who has worked for 30 years as a teacher and principal, grew up in a strongly Catholic family in Fairfield, Hamilton. Kath started by taking the best from teaching with great people in Catholic schools in Dargaville, Otahuhu and Te Aroha. Kath is currently the president of the Hamilton branch of the NZ Catholic Principals’ Association.
Continued from Page 6 members are quite comfortable talking about their practice with each other.” Rather than being told the buildings are changing and so deal with it, staff members want the buildings to change. While some schools are changing only one block to see how it goes, Kath’s teachers have told her they would be frustrated if only one or two of them had the opportunity to be in a shared space. “They all want to try it because that’s the culture of the place – we do things as a collective.” As a relatively new school, the people employed at St Thomas
More have been chosen because they are open to new ideas and creative approaches. “I’ve never really had a problem with trying to spark people’s imaginations. They come to the school knowing it is different from other Catholic schools – it looks different, and we do things differently.” Although adjacent to St Thomas More parish church, the school was not founded by a religious order but by lay people. “That puts more responsibility on us to make sure that we are Catholic in the way we do things. We have a solid foundation of six values
Catholic Funeral Director
Ana-Maria Richardson Hamilton Diocese Parishioner
I am dedicated to providing Catholic families with genuine personal care consistent with the traditions and practices of the Church.
Freephone:
07 211 4654
Mobile: 021 881 229 | Office: 07 855 1878 Email: ana@woolertons.co.nz
Woolertons’ Funeral Home 127 Boundary Road, Hamilton
www.hamiltonfuneralhome.co.nz