Alive-O Religion Programme Theme is: “The glory of God is a person fully alive”

Connected Reconnected 2nd Class I am Special Junior Infants You are special Senior Infants We are special 1st Class Connected Reconnected 2nd Class

Sense of being connected Sense of own goodness Sense of being connected Recognition of wrongdoing Respect for self & others Capacity to forgive & to be forgiven A sense of celebration

In 1999 Martin Kennedy wrote a report about the teaching of Religion in Primary Schools. The report was called ‘Islands Apart’. In it he says: There is good news and bad news in the report. The good news is that both teachers and students are highly positive about the programme – the classroom emerges as a space where the students engage with religion in a way that is delightful for them. The bad news is that the classroom is increasingly the only space where the students so engage with religion. While in theory the religious education of children involves a partnership of home, parish and school the reality appears to be quite different .