A major new information campaign highlighting the benefits of special religious education (SRE) in schools is about to have an impact on the region including Narromine, Trangie and Dubbo.
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Narromine Anglican Church Pastor Phil Howes runs SRE for students at Narromine High School and said the campaign should result in a renewed and positive focus on scripture.
“I have been teaching scripture for many years and I have noticed a positive response in schools, particularly in years 7 and 8 at Narromine High School,” Reverend Howes said.
“This information campaign will help get the word out about what is on offer so that parents can have all the information they need to make informed choices for their children and with their children.”
The campaign driven by Christian SRE, a volunteer group providing religious education in NSW state schools, will see more than 700,000 pamphlets distributed complemented by advertising on various Christian radio stations.
Recent research has found that almost 99 per cent of people believe it is important to teach values to Australian school children. The same research found that while a large percentage of those surveyed did not identify with any religion or spiritual belief, 84 per cent believe that Christian heritage has been influential in shaping the values that we teach children.
Rev Howes praised Narromine Principal Philip Rufus for his approach to SRE.
“The principal has been very positive and supportive. We have strong support in years 7 and 8 and that’s helped by the fact that we have developed special scripture for year 6 students in primary school so by the time they arrive in year 7 they know SRE teachers and are familiar with what we teach,” Reverend Howes said.
One of the positive by-products of the Christian SRE effort in the region has been the cooperation and engagement between the churches.
“We are all united in our commitment to providing scripture for students through this program and as a result we hold shared functions and fund-raising activities to support SRE,” Reverend Howes said.
Rev Howes said one example was a cake which had been baked for an auction raising money to support SRE in schools.
During the auction it went for $400 and the lucky bidder donated it immediately to be re-auctioned. It raised another $400 for the cause.
The pastor said he looked forward to the arrival of the informative pamphlets on SRE which will be distributed to schools and churches in the area.
