Religious Education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong, and what it means to be human.

Aims

• To enable pupils to understand and be aware of religious beliefs and practices.
• To develop an interest in pupils reflecting upon the world around them.
• To encourage a positive attitude to life and to their relationships with other people.
• To encourage positive attitudes of sensitivity, empathy and reflection through a range of learning experiences.
• To facilitate pupils in considering & developing their own views & beliefs in a spiritual context

Content

Religious Education at Pencalenick School occurs in a context of Christianity and other religious traditions. Through Religious Education lessons, pupils have opportunities to explore the rites, rituals, beliefs, practices and festivals of the religions being studied. These religions include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

A variety of learning opportunities are provided, including: Creative Arts, media and immersive sensory experiences.

Qualities to be fostered in Religious Education include:

• Commitment
• Fairness
• Respect
• Self-understanding
• Enquiry
• Openness

Religious Education is relevant to everyday life. Pupils will be encouraged to learn and develop respect for the views and beliefs held by others, making links to their local communities, whilst considering their own spiritual development. The culture and religious backgrounds of both staff and pupils are acknowledged and respected. Pupils will be encouraged to gain understanding of what it may mean to have a personal religious commitment.

British Values

At Pencalenick School, we promote British Values through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education, which permeates through the school’s curriculum and supports the development of every pupil. We recognise that such development is most successful when those values and attitudes are promoted by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils. We regularly take part in opportunities to explore our place in the world and the values we all share.

Cornwall

From the 1500-year-old buried Oratory of St Piran to the newest cathedral in the UK, Cornwall has a wealth of history and religious traditions to explore.  At Pencalenick School we learn about the incredible stories surrounding St Piran and other Cornish saints, many of whom provide the names for our home villages and towns.  Pupils have the opportunity to visit the cathedral in Truro and other places of religious and historical importance. 

Festivals and celebrations.

At Christmas, we hold celebrations at St Clements Parish Church, which has been welcoming Pencalenick pupils through its doors for over sixty years.  We celebrate St Piran’s Day, Christmas and Easter each year. All the pupils across the school take part in our celebrations using songs, music and movement, drama and poems.

We welcome visitors from the local community whom represent a range of different religions. This provides the pupils with the opportunity to gain greater personal insight into the beliefs of people in their community and beyond.

Assessment and Achievement

The curriculum has been based on both the Agreed Syllabus for RE in Cornwall and PCAS (Pencalenick Cognitive Assessment Steps) which continue to promote high expectations whilst keeping functional skills a priority. 

Pencalenick School is a registered centre for the delivery of ASDAN Programmes and Qualifications.

We offer ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation network) as part of our Religious Education curriculum.  The programmes and qualifications are widely recognised for providing an engaging curriculum that empowers students through personalised learning and choice.

The school has developed the use of ASDAN to support our delivery of a holistic and balanced approach to personalised learning for each student, no matter what their ability. It offers us an opportunity to formally identify small steps of achievement towards a larger goal through a framework of activities aimed to develop, recognise and accredit skills.

For more information, please contact Subject Lead - Becca Parkinson, email:  rparkinson@pencalenick.org