Civics & Citizenship
Courses for Australian schools
Church And State (CAS) has developed an exciting (and growing) series of presentations specifically for Australian Christian Schools to sit in the Civics learning area of the National Curriculum, and to support the calibre of future voters they send into the nation.
Our objectives are to nurture an appreciation of the positive history and Christian foundations of Australian democracy and culture, form a larger sense of personal responsibility for the future of the nation, equip a practical understanding of how the different levels of parliament are formed and create laws, and stimulate critical thinking.
Schools in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have already invited CAS to present to their students. To discuss possibilities for your school, please contact CAS on the details at the bottom of this page.
Great Australians
Inspiring students to value & aspire to the public faith and virtue of our nation’s founders
Specific Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this presentation, students will be better able to:
- Appreciate the importance of Christianity to Australia’s public history and future, as evidenced in our “great” citizens whose faith was more than a private matter, but lived out practically.
- Understand the importance of character, especially difference between rights and responsibilities.
- Aspire to lead a life of greatness by God’s measure, instead of smallness, lived out practically, whether it be famous or only seen by Almighty God.
Featuring testimonies of:
- Sir Henry Parkes
- Alfred Deakin
- Caroline Chisholm
- David Unaipon
- Rev John Flynn
- William Arnott
What Principals Are Saying
“I highly recommend the ‘Great Australians’ presentation as it is interesting to students, it works in well with the Civics learning area of the National Curriculum and, most importantly, stresses the significant input of Christian men and women into the life of our great country. Our young people need positive, Godly Australian role models and the ‘Great Australians’ presentation does this very well.
Highly commended by the staff at Covenant Christian School, Canberra.“
What Teachers Are Saying
“Inspiring and helpful for the students to see there are different ways of being “great” (key thing is God’s approval) and different kinds of people who can be great – women, men, indigenous, non-indigenous, etc.
Good to get them thinking about how they might contribute to Australia the way these figures have.“
“An interesting presentation that highlighted the point that so many founding Australians had a deep and meaningful relationship with their God… A very good and very needed presentation. Thank you for sharing it.“
Good Philosophy
Inspiring students to aspire to wisdom
& appreciate the value of critical thinking.
Specific Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this presentation, students will be better able to:
- Define and explain philosophy in simple terms.
- Value philosophy generally and aspire to grow in wisdom and quality of character personally.
- Begin to look deeper than surface appearances for people’s methods and motives before trusting.
- Prepare for the responsibility of voting by highly valuing good philosophy in political candidates.
Featuring applications in:
- Sport
- Maths
- Journalism
- Science
- Democracy
What Parents Are Saying
You Rule!
Empowering students to become confident in representative democracy and the benefits of preferential voting.
Specific Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this presentation, students will be better able to understand:
- preferential voting and counting
- how state and federal parliaments are formed
- how laws are actually made
Featuring simple explanations of:
- What “representation” actually means
- The purpose of each house in bicameral parliaments
- Creating legislation: from debate to assent
- Political party membership and preselections
- How to use preferential voting for its maximum effect
- Biblical wisdom for choosing your own preferences (nonpartisan)
- Compulsory vs Optional preferential voting
- How To Vote cards
- Counting and Scrutineering
- Other voting systems (Plurality, Runoff, Proportional)
