“From my point of view God is the light that illuminates the darkness even if it does not dissolve it
and a spark of divine light is within each of us”
Pope Francis
Department of Religion
Religious Education is an integral part of school life and the curriculum here in Sacred Heart Secondary School. The Religion Department strives to preserve and strengthen the tradition of the school’s rich cultural heritage and Catholic ethos that was founded by the Mercy Sisters. Promotion of faith, human development, creating community, promoting the values of kindness, compassion, and love, achieving quality teaching learning inside and outside the classroom are the values central to the Religion Department.
Liturgical Celebrated Events:
Mercy Day Mass
The Jesse Tree
Carol Service
Celebration of Catholic Schools Week
Ty Mass
Graduation Mass
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Celebration of St. Blaze's Day
Junior Cert Curriculum
The aim of Junior Cycle Religious Education is to provide students with a framework for encountering and engaging with the variety of religious traditions in Ireland and elsewhere. Such a framework prepares students for the Leaving Certificate course in Religious Education. The syllabus for the Junior Certificate, in common with the range of subjects offered at this level, invites the students to reflect on their own experiences. The students’ own experience of religion and their commitment to a particular religious tradition, and/or to a continuing search for meaning, is therefore encouraged and supported. Junior Cycle Religious Education seeks to promote an understanding and appreciation of why people believe, as well as tolerance and respect for the values and beliefs of all. The syllabus is built around a framework of knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes. As part of a programme of preparation for the responsibilities of citizenship, the course makes particular reference to the Christian tradition, acknowledging the unique role of this tradition and its denominational expressions in Irish life. Religious Education ensures that students are exposed to a broad range of religious traditions and to the non-religious interpretation of life. It has a particular role to play in the curriculum in the promotion of tolerance and mutual understanding. It seeks to develop in students the skills needed to engage in meaningful dialogue with those of other, or of no, religious traditions.
Curriculum Content
Three class periods weekly for Junior Cycle
Year One
Section A: Communities of Faith
Section B: Foundations of Religion – Christianity
Year Two
Section C Foundations of Religion – Major World Religions
Section E: The Celebration of Faith
Year 3
Section D: The Question of Faith
Section F: The Moral Challenge
Examination: State Examination at the end of third year, can be examined at Ordinary and Higher Levels. There are two assessment components – journal work (20%) and a terminal written examination (80%).
Leaving Certificate
Non- exam religious education for the Leaving Cert ensures that students are exposed to a broad range of religious traditions and to the non-religious interpretation of life. Religious Education at leaving cert level has a particular role to play in the curriculum in the promotion of tolerance and mutual understanding. It seeks to develop in students the skills needed to engage in meaningful dialogue with those of other or of no religious traditions. Religious education for the Leaving Cert offers opportunities to develop an informed and critical understanding of the Christian tradition and others in their historical origins and cultural and social expressions. Students are encouraged to develop an awareness that the human search for meaning is common to all peoples of all ages, at different stages of their lives. Students study moral and social ethics through looking at numerous perspectives on moral issues of past and present. Reflection, moral growth, development of self-thinking and faith are all important characteristics of this curriculum.
5th year Curriculum Content
Part One: The Quest for Meaning
Part Two: Morality
Part Three: Morality and Social Issues.
6th year Curriculum Content
Part One: Prayer
Part Two: Sexuality
Part Three: World Religions
Part Four: a) Making a difference/ Exploring Religion through music including song, film and text.
b) Human Relations
3 classes a week for Senior Cycle.
“You must be cheerful and happy, animating all around you.”
Catherine McAuley