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The Report of the Religious Observance Review Group
five: religious observance in the twenty-first century
Conclusion
The activity currently designated religious observance has as its central concern the development of each individual within the school community as a 'whole person'. This concern resonates with the commitment in Educating For Excellence to 'realise the potential of every child in every community...'.
Such a commitment will result in a situation in which all aspects of the educational experience work together in a coherent and consistent manner to ensure that all pupils receive a balanced, valuable and inclusive education which prepares them for all aspects of life. Religious observance should act as a focus and catalyst for this commitment.
Many school communities are characterised by a diversity of beliefs and practices reflecting a range of religious and other stances. It is of central importance that all pupils and staff can participate with integrity in the forms of religious observance devised by their school without compromise to their personal faith stances. This can best be guaranteed by involving a range of people from the school and community in the preparation, planning and presentation of the assembly or other gathering. Pupils should have a key role in this process.
One implication of this diversity is that the forms of religious observance devised may differ from school to school. This reflects the current move in Scottish education to give greater autonomy to local authorities and schools in making decisions on delivery based on local needs. At local authority and school level full consultation should take place with all interested parties on how religious observance should be implemented. The unifying principle behind the different approaches to religious observance will be the aims set out in this paper.
Regular assemblies or other gatherings for religious observance provide opportunities for the school community to reflect on, and develop, a deeper understanding of the dignity and worth of each individual and the shared values of the school community. The stimulus for reflection may be provided by incidents which occur in the life of the school or in the local, national or international communities, a programme of values which the school wishes its pupils and staff to reflect upon or the annual cycle of religious festivals.
It is appreciated that this view of religious observance involves what may be described as a paradigm shift in which religious observance is transformed from a peripheral position in many schools to a central role as a guarantor of the school's commitment to realising the full potential of every person in the school community. The recommendations set out in the following section are made with the intention of facilitating this process.
Recommendations
The review group makes the following recommendations:
Recommendation 1
The Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) should review the Circular on religious observance to include:
a definition of religious observance as community acts which aim to promote the spiritual development of all members of the school community and express and celebrate the shared values of the school community and define the aims as to promote the spiritual development of all members of the school community and to express and celebrate the shared values of the school community;
a statement that in terms of frequency every school should provide opportunities for religious observance at least six times in a school year in addition to traditional celebrations central to the life of the school community;
a statement that, subject to the above guidance, local authorities should be encouraged to devise forms of religious observance which take account of local circumstances and the needs of their particular pupils;
a statement that schools should consider requests for opportunities for organised acts of worship within the informal curriculum taking account of the availability of appropriate personnel and accommodation.
Recommendation 2
SEED should provide further guidance on religious observance which takes account of research and development work on spiritual development and values. The guidance should incorporate a series of exemplars and the development of a self-evaluation toolkit which reflect the aims of religious observance as defined in this report.
Recommendation 3
SEED should provide guidance for schools on the role of chaplains and chaplaincy teams in religious observance and in the overall life of the school. SEED should also develop self-evaluation tools that can be used by schools to evaluate the quality of religious observance provided for pupils.
Recommendation 4
The review of the curriculum in Scotland, as outlined in Educating for Excellence, should consider the role of religious observance in future educational provision and should take account of the findings of this report.
Recommendation 5
Schools are encouraged to ensure that when communal locations are used for religious observance they are prepared in an appropriate manner. In addition local authorities should give consideration to incorporating smaller areas appropriate for other forms of religious observance in the planning and design of new school buildings.
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