ATTAINMENT OUTCOMES AND TARGETS

Attainment outcomes

These three outcomes should not be considered as discrete entities. For example, the study of Christianity may at times be enhanced by the parallel study of other world religions; at other times there will be advantage in a separate focus on an aspect of Christianity or of another religion. Personal search involves the pupils' own reflection on and response to their life experiences and their growing knowledge of religions. The question of balance among the outcomes depends on the circumstances of the school, taking into account the religious background of the pupils and their families and the general educational principle of tolerance and respect for others. However, no religious education programme could be considered satisfactory which did not contain elements of all three outcomes.

Strands and attainment targets

In order to allow for such flexibility, the outcomes have been listed separately but with a common framework of strands for Christianity and Other World Religions and three separate strands for Personal Search representing key aspects of learning within that outcome. This systematic approach is intended to help teachers to plan relevant learning contexts for pupils and to ensure that pupils' learning will be coherent and progressive.

Attainment targets provide specific objectives for learning along a line of progression for each strand. Teachers should use the targets in a flexible way to suit their particular circumstances, using their professional experience to allow pupils every opportunity to demonstrate their attainment of targets.