Religious and Moral Education Personal and Social Development. Sandness Primary School

Transcription

1 Religious and Moral Education Personal and Social Development Sandness Primary School

2 Religious and Moral Education Introduction Religious and Moral Education is part of the core curriculum and is based on National Guidelines for Religious and Moral Education In Sandness Primary School all teachers are therefore involved in the teaching of Religious and Moral Education. The following school policy statement is based on the above guidelines and would seek to take account of the authority policy for Religious and Moral Education. Rationale Religious and Moral Education Aims is concerned with the spiritual growth of the pupil, with those feelings and beliefs which arise out of experience and which influence the search for meaning, value and purpose in life. For some, namely the denominational schools, such experience will be interpreted within their own tradition encourage pupils to become aware of a wide range of religious interpretations of personal experience and of their importance to believers fosters attitudes of open enquiry and awareness of prejudice helps pupils to appreciate that religion offers a distinctive interpretation of life. It also encourages them to think honestly for themselves about religious beliefs and practices, and the implications of moral issues within religions makes a distinctive contribution to the curriculum in helping pupils towards a consistent set of beliefs, values, attitudes and practices. Other aspects of the school ethos and curriculum also aim to help pupils in their search for answers to some of life s deepest questions Religious and Moral Education should encourage pupils over their school life to recognise religion as an important expression of human experience reflect on and respond to the values, beliefs and practices of religious traditions within our community and beyond be aware of the practical consequences of religious commitment evaluate and in turn, confirm, deepen or come to their own understanding of the meaning, value and purpose of life

3 The right to withdraw Under the terms of the Education (Scotland)Act 1980, parents/guardians may withdraw their children from Religious and Moral Education. Although this right remains, Religious and Moral Education with its aims of helping pupils to understand the nature of religion and encouraging them to seek their own understanding of the religious dimension of life, should make it less necessary for parents/guardians to exercise their right of withdrawal. it should be noted that withdrawal must be only on the grounds of conscience and not for other reasons such as providing extra time for work in another curricular area the school will then have to make arrangements for the withdrawal of the pupil, as the head teacher is responsible for all pupils during the school day. Detailed arrangements will depend on individual circumstances, but in all cases the pupil must be supervised by an adult and engaged in meaningful work/activity Time allocation The time allocation for Religious and Moral Education, Personal and Social Education and Health is 15% This time allocation is in line with National Guidelines[revised] and includes time for school and class assemblies Attitudes and Values Through Religious and Moral Education, pupils will be assisted to develop positive attitudes and to consider, generally accepted values. This will be done by encouraging: integrity through a readiness to represent religions accurately honesty about feelings, attitudes, values and beliefs curiosity through a willingness to explore enthusiastically their own and other people s beliefs and traditions, and to ask questions about life and about religion respect for other people s ideas, values, customs and beliefs, a positive self image through pupils valuing themselves as unique human beings and recognising their contribution to others compassion through expressing and valuing love, concern and forgiveness Equal Opportunities

4 Equal opportunities means ensuring that all pupils, irrespective of belief, race culture, class, gender and disability, are provided with an education, which allows them to develop their own, potential. Such an education recognises the uniqueness of the individual through ensuring that all pupils are Equally valued, respected and cared for have access to the full range of appropriate activities and experiences Religious and Moral Education plays a vital role in supporting and promoting these principles through: encouraging pupils to explore aspects of belief, practice and life experiences discussing issues of basic human rights, relevant to equality and inequality fostering positive values such as respect, love, tolerance, understanding, empathy, fairness, freedom, duty, justice and forgiveness promoting a positive self image identifying and combating stereotyping, racism and all forms of discrimination wherever they occur contributing to the formation of a harmonious society based upon mutual respect and concern Support will be given to any pupil who would not otherwise progress through the outlined programme of study. This could be additional teacher time, modified learning activities, or SMART targets identified as part of an IEP. Content The content for Sandness Primary School has been developed from the Strathclyde framework and includes the study of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam the Sikh religion and topics providing for personal search. Topics rotate within a four year rolling plan. Details are provided in the Programme of Study for RME

5 Planning Planning is described on four levels. The overall programme of study outlines the targets within each topic from level A E. The year plan identifies the topics to be addressed in a given school year. These are then broken down into detailed plans, outlining the targets, content, learning activities and provision for assessment. Daily plans identify how this will be managed within the school day. Learning and Teaching Successful Religious and Moral Education requires teachers to adopt the same professional approach as would be applied to all areas of the curriculum. Good practice in Religious and Moral Education involves the use of a variety of approaches including individual work, group work, and where appropriate, whole class teaching. The use of art work, written activities, talk, role play, music and other areas contributes meaningfully to the development of good Religious and Moral Education. A range of approaches are adopted with knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes being developed through: Experiencing religion at first hand e.g. handling artefacts, visiting places of worship, meeting people from different traditions; Gathering and sharing information about beliefs and practices from a variety of sources e.g. pictures, books, television, radio broadcasts etc; Reading, listening and responding to a range of secular and religious literature Discussing and writing about issues of belief and morality; Exploring and reflecting on experiences e.g. by talk, writing, drawing, making. These experiences are intended for all pupils, taking into account pupils development and experience while demonstrating an awareness and sensitivity to the multi faith/multi cultural community within our school, thereby encouraging an appreciation of the diversity of lifestyles, cultures, linguistic and religious background of our pupils. Teachers will also be sensitive to special needs that may arise from time to time as a result of personal experiences such as, for example, bereavement. Assessment/Recording and Reporting It is essential to monitor progress and to ensure that achievement has taken place. Within Religious and Moral Education pupils gain knowledge and understanding and these, together with skills, are capable of being assessed, recorded and reported within national, local and school guidelines. Assessment in Religious and Moral Education is not concerned with monitoring or evaluating commitment to faith. Religious and Moral Education is therefore assessed recorded and reported in the same way as other curricular areas.

6 Resources Religious and Moral Education resources held in school are to be found in the teachers resource area. Artefacts are arranged by religion. No core scheme is used but materials are drawn from ACER Publications Levels A D KCP Publications RE Series Levels C E Moral Dilemmas Awareness Levels 1 and 2 What Would You Do (Video + workbooks) Level B E Have Your Say ( Video and workbooks) Level A C Video + resources are available for each of the religions and topics covered. Monitoring Review The HT is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this policy. Monitoring of Religious and Moral Education plans; Discussion of work with staff and pupils; Observation of Religious and Moral Education work during Get togethers; Review of this policy through the School Development Planning process. The HT will review and amend this policy as necessary at or before December 2009 Lyn Boxall 2006