Special Religious Education

Religious education for children in public schools

SRE Special Religious Education (SRE) is taught in public primary and high schools across the Diocese with paid and volunteer workers. SRE is provided in Public Schools under Section 32 of the Education Act 1990 which requires that: ‘in every government school, time is to be allowed for the religious education of children of any religious persuasion’.

This means there is a historical and legal basis for the provision of Special Religious Education as part of the education of children and young people in New South Wales Public Schools. For information about the Policy and Procedures governing this provision, read this document.

The department has worked collaboratively with the NSW Consultative Committee for SRE to revise the SRE procedures in line with recommendations from the 2015 review of Special Religious Education and Special Education in Ethics in NSW government schools.

The Bathurst Diocese is an Approved Provider of Special Religious Education in NSW.

SRE Teacher Requirements

Any Person who wishes to teach Special Religious Education or be an SRE helper at a NSW Government Primary or High School must be authorised to do so.

Authorisation, done annually involves the following steps:

  • Completing the SRE Authorisation Form
  • Holding a current cleared Working With Children Check number, this is verified by the Diocesan Office.
  • Being current in Safe Ministries training – including Child Protection (have completed in the last 3 years), which also covers to agree to abide by the standard of behaviour contained in our code of conduct “Faithfulness In Service“.
  • Professional Development training – a minimum of 2 hours’ of Professional Development (either online or face-to-face) is to be completed each year. Online training can be done via Youthworks. (SRE Teachers only).
  • Classroom Observation: the SRE teacher is to be observed and reviewed annually, with a form to be completed and sent to the Diocese office.

Need to have completed and provided evidence of initial SRE training which will include:

Once a teacher has been authorised to teach SRE, the Diocese will provide to the school a letter which will include the name of the authorised teacher, date of birth and contact details. This letter will be updated annually before the start of Term 1 and as required.

Department of Education’s Policy and Procedures links below:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/religion-and-ethics

https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/social-media-policy?refid=285776

Have a current Safe Ministries Check Questionnaire – Voluntary Church Worker – Safe Ministry Check (have completed in the last 3 years)

SRE Curriculum

The Department of Education and Communities (DEC) requires all curricula authorised for use in SRE (Special Religious Education) to be made available to view online.

Current curricula authorised by the Diocese of Bathurst is listed below:

The Diocese is committed to ongoing review of the curriculum used to deliver SRE and will review the appropriateness of the curriculum every five years, with the next review to take place in 2028. 

Addressing Complaints: If you have a complaint in regard to SRE we will address it within a reasonable time as per our policy.

Dio-Bathurst-Complaints-Policy-and-Procedure-2019.pdf

Diocese-of-Bathurst -SRE-Complaint-Form.pdf

Complaints

Addressing Complaints: If you have a complaint in regard to SRE we will address it within a reasonable time as per our policy.

Dio-Bathurst-Complaints-Policy-and-Procedure-2019.pdf

Diocese-of-Bathurst -SRE-Complaint-Form.pdf