IPC Eastern Region Sunday School Association
Important Dates
Annual Online Examination - Sunday, September 8, 2024 (4 - 6 pm)
Anniversary at the IPC ER Convention - Saturday, October 12, 2024
2024 Examination Guidelines
Sunday school directors of respective Sunday schools are required to register students who will participate in the exam. Please use this registration form. Completed forms need to be kindly returned back by Aug. 24.
Essay questions for various grades can be found here, and on the website, along with the guidelines for submitting the essays. All essays are due Aug. 31.
The exam for each grade will have 40 multiple choice questions (2 points each) and 5 memory verse questions (4 points each) for a total of 100 points. In addition to this exam, grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the IPC syllabus and High School level of the Radiant Life syllabus have to submit original essays based on selected topics. For these grades, the online exam will have 80% weight and the submitted essay 20% weight.
Online exams for various grades and syllabus will be for 1 hour duration. The exam will have multiple choice questions based on selected material from IPC Sunday school/Radiant Life textbooks, as outlined here: https://sites.google.com/view/ipcssersyllabus/home
Two separate exams will be conducted for each grade based on the 2 syllabuses. Registered students are permitted to appear for either or both exams. Children appearing for both exams will take each exam separately, one after the other in any order of their choice. Students cannot take exams for which they have not registered.
First, second and third prizes will be awarded separately for each grade based on marks scored on these tests. Winners will be recognized during the Region Sunday school anniversary that will be held on Oct. 12 along with the region convention.
Syllabus for school year ending Sept. 2024
Note:
While it is the local Sunday school’s discretion to assign students to appropriate grades, the association advises that students be assigned to the same Sunday school grade, as they are in regular school. For example, if a child is in grade 2 in school, the child should be placed in grade 2 in Sunday school as well.
There is overlap between the IPC and Radiant Life curriculum at various grade levels. For example, classes 3 and 4 of the IPC curriculum map to Middler level of the Radiant curriculum. Both grades in the IPC curriculum will hence share the same material from the Radiant curriculum.
The primary textbook required to teach the Radiant Life curriculum is the Teacher Guide of each level.
While the IPC curriculum is fixed, the Radiant Life teaching material changes each quater with new content.
Questions for the final exam will be based on content and memory verses from selected material (~20 lessons) of each grade level textbook.
Frequently asked questions
1. My church is following the IPC curriculum. Do we need to adopt the Radiant Life curriculum?
This is a decision to be made by the local Sunday school. The Sunday school association desires to provide the best possible options for Christian education to our children. Both the IPC and Radiant Life curriculums have excellent Bible based learning content. A combination of both the curriculum gives students a very good depth and breadth of Christian theological education, allowing them to grow into committed disciples of Christ in this generation. You are welcome to adopt both the curricula or stick to either one of them.
2. My church is following the IPC curriculum. Can we use the Radiant Life curriculum too? How do we do that?
If your local church is currently following the IPC curriculum, you are welcome to also adopt the Radiant Life curriculum and teach it too. The IPC curriculum for each class has 20 lessons. This in general, can be taught in 20-25 weeks. The remain time of the year could be used to teach the Radiant Life material. While it is solely up to the local Sunday school/individual teacher to decide how to manage the remaining time, we believe it is possible to teach both curricula side-by-side. For example, one could teach lessons from each curriculum every alternate week.
3. My church is following the Radiant Life curriculum. Do we need to adopt the IPC curriculum?
This is a decision to be made by the local Sunday school. The Sunday school association desires to provide the best possible options for Christian education to our children. Both the IPC and Radiant Life curriculums have excellent Bible based learning content. A combination of both the curriculum gives students a very good depth and breadth of Christian theological education, allowing them to grow into committed disciples of Christ in this generation. You are welcome to adopt both the curricula or stick to either one of them.
4. Is it possible to mix-and-match both curriculum at different grade levels?
Yes, it is possible to do that. A local Sunday school can decide to teach different material at different grade levels. For example, may be use the IPC curriculum for grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 and Radiant Life for other grade levels. This is a decision to be made by the local Sunday school.
5. How will the annual exam look like?
There will be separate exams based on the 2 syllabuses of individual curriculum for each grade level. See above for links to grade-level textbooks and syllabus. Students can choose to take part in either or both exams. If they wish to attempt both exams, they will have to take each exam separately, one after the other. The choices of exam will have to be indicated in advance at the time of registration of students for the exam. Registration notifications will be sent out during the June-July time frame.
Annual online exams will have multiple choice based questions, covering the syllabus for each grade based on content and memory verses. Grade level prizes will be awarded separately for each curriculum. We anticipate having the year-end exam in September. Results of the exams will be announced at the annual Region Sunday school anniversary held along with the IPC ER Region Convention in October (see important dates above).
7. How do we get grade-level textbooks?
Please see the links above. PDF copies of textbooks from the IPC curriculum are readily available for download. Radiant Life textbooks have to be ordered in a timely manner directly from the publishing house by the local Sunday school. The association does not have any ties with the Radiant Life publisher. Please plan accordingly for each order cycle.