Year 2

Year Level Description

In Year 2, students learn about aspects of God’s nature and God’s relationship with people, as they engage with a variety of New Testament texts depicting the teachings and actions of Jesus and Old Testament texts that describe God’s relationship with the Jewish people. They explore contextual information about the first century Mediterranean world, to better appreciate the life and times of Jesus. They learn about Jesus’ mission and ministry and explore ways in which Jesus’ teachings and actions continue to guide the life of the Church community today. They explore, recognise and appreciate the history of a parish community as it is revealed in many ways.

Students learn about the sacredness of all creation, especially human life; the call to be co-creators and stewards of God’s creation; and the responsibility to pursue peace and justice out of respect for human life and all creation. They develop their understanding of the loving relationship God unconditionally offers to people; and their understanding of sin, as evident in the free choices that harm the individual and their loving relationships with God, with others and with all creation. They explore ways in which believers seek to heal these relationships through reconciliation and prayer. They investigate ways in which believers celebrate reconciliation with God and with others in the Sacrament of Penance.

Students examine ways in which prayer and the wisdom of the saints help believers to nurture their loving relationships with God, with others and with all creation. They develop their understanding of prayer in the Christian tradition through an exploration of prayer for forgiveness (acts of contrition and Penitential Act) and meditative prayer.

Focus Area 1: How do we make promises to God and others?

Fertile Question/s

  • Why should we make promises to God and others?
  • How do we keep our promises when it is hard to do so when others don’t?
  • How do we show reverence for creation?
  • Why should we show reverence towards creation?•

Focus Area 2: How do we work for justice?

Fertile Question/s

  • What can we learn from Jesus about helping people in need? (Caritas)
  • What can we learn from the Bible about Jesus’ teachings
  • What is Justice?
  • Why should we care for other people and have a respect for life?

Children will learn that the Bible is an inspired account of the history and story of the Jewish people.  They look at the story of Abraham and Sarah as an example of how God relates to us all.  Children can discuss and identify people and places from these stories and describe God’s relationship with the Jewish people in these stories. They will compare and contrast their ideas on these stories.  Children will also explore the Old and New Testaments and the Table of Contents to locate books depicting stories about the life of Jesus.

Focus Area 3: How does the past shape our current faith community?

Fertile Question/s

  • What is a Parish Community?
  • What would I see if I went to a local Parish Church?
  • How does Jesus’ faith community compare to our faith community today?
  • How does understanding Jesus’ past, help us understand the life of Jesus?
  • What is our local faith community like?
  • What would it have been like in the time of Jesus?

Focus Area 4: What do we know about Jesus?

Fertile Question/s

  • How do we know about God through the teachings of Jesus?
  • What was Jesus’ mission?
  • What effect did Jesus’ mission have on the lives of people in Jesus’ time (teacher, healer, and forgiver)?

Children will look at their Parish community, the history and significance and key events.  They will design a narrative about this.  Children will explore the historical and geographical features of first century Mediterranean world and identify key events and people of this time.  Children will look at some of the saints of the Church and they help us to focus on being stewards of creation.

Focus Area 5: Teaching of Jesus

Fertile Question/s

  • What did Jesus’ teach us about forgiveness?
  • Why is forgiveness important in our community?
  • What does St Francis’ peace prayer mean to/for our community?
  • How does St Francis’ peace prayer align with Jesus’ teachings?
  • What does Jesus’ teachings teach us about caring for others?

Focus Area 6: Why do we need to say sorry? Why bother with the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

Fertile Question/s

  • What is sin? (God created us to be the best we can be, sometimes we make choices that make God very sad and damages relationships)
  • What is the difference between sin and making a mistake? (learning through our mistakes)
  • Why do we need to admit to our sins?
  • What does forgiveness mean to us?
  • Why is it important to forgive others?
  • Why do we need to forgive ourselves?

Children will look at what Jesus teaches us about forgiveness and why it is important to forgive in our community.  They look at St Francis Peace Prayer and what it means to our community and what it also tells us about Jesus teachings.  Children will look at the meaning of sin and making choices that can hurt relationships and forgiveness.  Children will learn that it is important to own their mistakes, forgive themselves and others.

Focus Area 7: How has St Francis shown us to care for God’s creation?

 

Fertile Question/s:

  • Who was St Francis?
  • What did St Francis teach us about caring for God’s creation?
  • What does St Francis mean for our school?
  • How can we be co-creators and stewards of creation?

Children begin this unit looking at St Francis and who he is in the life of our school and how we can become co-creators and stewards of creation like him.

 

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students analyse some teachings and actions of Jesus depicted in New Testament texts that reveal aspects of God’s nature. They discuss their ideas about God’s relationship with the Jewish people as described in some Old Testament stories. Students pose questions about the life and times of Jesus and use sources provided to answer these questions. They make connections between Jesus’ teachings and actions and the way members of the Church community live today.

Students recognise the sacredness of God and all creation, especially human life. They identify ways in which human beings respond to the call to be co-creators and stewards of God’s creation. Drawing on their own experiences, they suggest ways to pursue peace and justice out of respect for human life and all creation. They recognise choices that harm an individual and their loving relationships with God, with others and with all creation. They explain ways in which believers seek to heal these relationships through reconciliation and how they celebrate reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance. They recognise that prayer and the wisdom of the saints help the believer to nurture their relationship with God, with others and with all creation. They participate with respect in a variety of personal and communal prayer experiences, including meditative prayer and prayers for forgiveness.