Year 8 Level Description
The Religion Curriculum P-12 involves four strands: Sacred Texts, Beliefs, Church and Christian Life. These strands are interrelated and are taught in an integrated way, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts.
In Year 8, students engage with a variety of images and words that express the mystery of the Trinity, the fundamental Christian belief that God is relational in nature. They are introduced to the theme of covenant, as unique relationship between God and God’s people, through an exploration of the actions and messages of some Old Testament prophets. They explore the Christian belief in God’s saving plan for all creation and ways in which believers past and present are part of God’s saving plan through their faith and action in the world. They learn about the preaching, achievements and challenges of the earliest followers of Jesus, as described in The Acts of the Apostles. They are introduced to the significant challenges and changes in the Church from c.650 CE – c.1750 CE and the influence of significant people, groups and ideas at that time. They develop their understanding of the many ways in which the Church is present and active in the world today, including participation in liturgy and other personal and communal prayer experiences; informed response to emerging moral questions; practice of cardinal virtues, and witness to the ecumenical spirit through praying and working for Christian unity.
Students continue to develop their understanding of prayer in the Christian tradition through an exploration of The Liturgy of the Hours; meditative prayer, including praying with scripture; and meditative prayer practices, including centred breathing and attending to posture. They learn about the significance of initiation rituals in the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) for the faith journey of believers.