TeachingRE Issue 4.pdf - the Second Level Support Service

Religious Eductaion atVILLIERS School, LimerickBy Emily Sexton and Elton GoodThanks to Emily Sexton and Elton Good, teachers of Religious Education at Villiers School, Limerick, forthis insightful overview of Religious Education in their school. This article offers a clear and engagingexploration of how the school’s characteristic spirit permeates the activities of the R.E. department andthe education of the students.This article includes mature and balanced perspectives from students ontheir experience of Junior and Leaving Certificate Religious Education. It is enlightening and refreshing tohear about the positive effects of Junior and Leaving Certificate R.E. on the students and the wisdomthey employ in realising the relevance of this course for their lives in a multi-faith culture.Villiers School is a privately endowed, co-educational,Protestant boarding and day school, founded under thewill of Hannah Villiers in 1821. The ethos of Villiersschool is to create a very caring and highly academicenvironment. The mission statement states:‘Villiers provides a broad and balanced education withina caring community. Our aim is to develop life andlearning skills in order to face the challenges ahead withawareness and integrity.’The Religious Education department instills a profoundsense of faith and moral guidance in the students underits care. As a result, the students, staff and parentsdevelop a rich caring and generous giving spirit whichshows itself in the strong tradition of students beinginvolved in charitable works and projects that give backto their community and parish. Pastoral care is a centralelement in Villiers school - looking after the students,parents, and staff. This is demonstrated through theatmosphere of care and respect that prevails in Villiers.Pastoral care withinVilliers is a responsibility of everyone,as we educate within academic, social and religiousdimensions in the school.The R.E. department in Villiers consists of Emily Sextonand Elton Good. The Chaplain, Jonathan Lawes, iscurrently on a career break. The teachers are fromElton Good and Emily Sexton,Villiers R.E. Departmentdifferent Christian backgrounds which adds diversity,balance and the ability to relate to students from a widevariety of religious traditions. Villiers has traditionallyalways been a hub of religious diversity and it is excitingto have such a mixture of religious beliefs in the school- such beliefs including Church of Ireland, RomanCatholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Evangelical,Muslim, Bahá’í etc. As an R.E department, this is both ablessing and a challenge. Having students with differentfaith backgrounds has allowed students to share theirbeliefs, rituals and celebrations with their classmates. Thisis a very important part of faith development, as itencourages students to learn about and respect eachothers beliefs. The academic year 2008-2009 has beena challenging, yet fulfilling year. This has been a fascinatingjourney, allowing all to delve into how students, parentsand teachers relate to their faith and how we collectivelycommunicate those understandings.Junior Certificate Religious EducationR.E. is taken by all students for the Junior Certificateexam. It is sampled in Transition Year by students.Thereare general R.E. classes in 5th and 6thYear for all studentsand an option to study R.E. as a Leaving Certificatesubject. R.E. is seen as a dynamic, worthwhile andinteresting subject because a lot of what the studentsstudy is covered in the media, discussed at home or intheir Churches or amongst their peers. Ireland isbecoming such a multi-cultural country, that it isimportant to learn about people’s beliefs from differentreligious traditions.Religious Education as a Junior Certificate subject wasfirst introduced in Villiers School in 2003 and has beengoing from strength to strength each year. The syllabusis the guiding light for the teachers in understanding thecourse and the aims, objectives and description ofcontent are always close at hand. The textbook offers acomprehensive understanding of the topics for the38TEACHING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ISSUE FOUR SEPTEMBER 2009