Every Public school in NSW offers their students the chance to partake in a Special Religious Education, or SRE, class for 30 mins once a week. You might have heard of these classes being called Scripture or Catechism as well. 
Each Parish is responsible for organising volunteer teachers to take these classes and our parish looks after 6 local public schools. For our parish alone, there are 39 classes and around 850 students that need teachers!
So, what qualities do you need to be Catechist? We are looking for volunteers who are kind, generous, loving and have a desire to teach children about God’s love. You don’t need any teaching experience.
A manual and workbooks are provided to take the thinking out of it for you.
The lessons are easy to follow and you can literally read from the teaching manual if you’d like. Students workbooks are provided.
The weekly commitment consists of 30 mins of teaching time plus 30 mins prep/driving time. We only get about 10-15 minutes talking time before the students work in their workbooks.
The experiences that you can provide for these children will stay with them for life and the rewards for Catechists are great!
If once a week is too much of a commitment, you are welcome to team up with a friend or two and teach every couple of weeks instead. Or, you can teach together- whatever works! You can also nominate to be a helper only- it is a huge help for teachers to have an extra set of hands!
In our classes, we try to encourage our students to trust:
- that they can always have a friendship with Jesus and with God
- that they can explore The Word of God through scripture and ask any questions that are on their mind
- that they can learn to pray when they are feeling grateful, sorry or feel that they need help
- and that they know the importance of looking outward in life to help others.
There are many rewards for Catechists. The relationship between a Scripture teacher and their student is quite unique because we talk about our personal experiences and get to know each other very well as the year goes on.
If you are interested please contact Ursula Halloway on 9949 4455 or catechist@northharbourcatholic.org.au