Stories of Jesus family
Children will listen to and respond to stories about Jesus in the
Gospels. They will share links they make between their own life
experiences and events shared with characters from the Bible stories.
Children will hear the Easter story through the Gospels and learn about
Jesus message of love and forgiveness. This is his greatest commandment
and children discuss how they can live his message in their lives.
What was life like for Jesus and how was Jesus like us?
Children look at the Bible as a Sacred Text and explore and listen to
stories the New Testament, including the birth of Jesus as a way of
connecting the scripture with real life by discussing experiences in
their own lives. Children also understand through this process that
Jesus lived his life as a Jew and what life was life for him. Children
will also look a different ways of praying including, celebrations and
rituals through the year.
How do we know that God loves us?
Children will read Old Testament stories including Joseph and David
as a means of connecting scripture to their everyday lives. Children
will read the Creation Story from Genesis and focus on God’s special
relationship with us through creation. Children will also be reminded
of God’s greatest commandment to love God, love their neighbours and
love themselves. They discuss and identify times when they have had a
choice in how to act.
Preparing for Christmas
Children will look at special times in the lives of believers, eg,
Advent and Christmas, Baptism, Easter, etc. They will look at the
symbols and actions to each of these special times. Children look at
the birth of Jesus in Mathew and connect this with their lives as they
discuss their thoughts and feelings. They look at familiar messages.
Children continue to use meditative prayer as a way of connecting to
By the end of Prep, students communicate clearly their ideas,
feelings and thoughts about God, the goodness of God’s creation and
God’s plan that people help each other to live safely and happily
together, for the good of all. They identify connections between some
Old Testament stories and their personal experience, including the
experience of the goodness of creation. They listen and respond to
stories of and about Jesus in the Gospels that tell of Jesus’ life as a
Jew, his mother Mary, his friends and family; of Jesus praying and
teaching others to pray; and of his suffering, death and resurrection.
They recognise Jesus’ teachings about love, compassion and forgiveness
that challenged people about the way they were living. They relate
examples of people having the freedom to choose between good and bad,
right and wrong.
Students understand that prayer helps believers to follow the
teachings of Jesus; to live according to God’s plan. They recognise ways
in which believers pray either alone or with others, using word, music,
action, silence, images, symbols and nature, and participate with
respect in a variety of these prayer experiences, including meditative
prayer, the Sign of the Cross, and Amen. They describe ways in which
believers pray together during special celebrations and rituals that
mark important times in the life of believers and in the Church year.