Great Trees from Little Acorns Grow

This is particularly true of the Religious Education Department. The Department has gone from strength to strength. It began with only a small number of teachers and now has ten. We work very closely with the Chaplaincy Department organising, designing and carrying out liturgies that range from meditations to Inter-faith Services. Over the years there has been a number of key moments in the story of the Department.

The establishing of a meditation room is a defining moment in this story. Having this sacred place allows the students and staff of the College to gather in a very real way to meditate, celebrate and pray. In September 2000 Religious Education took a completely new direction with the introduction of the New Religious Education Junior Certificate Programme. This was a challenging time for all involved. The College was chosen as one of the first sixty schools to pilot the programme; this was both an exciting and daunting time. Looking back now, having reaped the rewards of this innovative programme, we can clearly see the benefits it has brought to us.

As part of this Junior Certificate programme, a number of teachers take students to different Sacred Spaces, namely the Mosque in Clonskeagh. Students get a great benefit out of this trip witnessing at first hand the beliefs and customs of the different faiths involved.

With the Junior Certificate well established, there was the enormous task of continuing the examination programme into Senior Cycle. This year a small confident number of students began that journey of exploring faith and Belief even further.

This story would not be complete, to date, without acknowledging the constant support and work of our colleagues in other Departments, namely the Art and Music Departments. These colleagues have ensured that our liturgies have run as smoothly as possible and have provided us with some awe-inspiring backdrops and some reassuring lyrics for every occasion possible.

And so we close this important chapter in the story of our Department let us be reassured that, as our fledging oak grows stronger, this soul enriching work shall continue.