How to use these guidelines

The advice in these guidelines is based on existing good practice in the design, planning and implementation of policies and programmes for the learning and teaching of Religious and Moral Education in Scottish schools.

The guidelines will help headteachers of primary and secondary schools and principal teachers of Religious Education to undertake a systematic review of the provision made in each school or department, and, with the involvement of class and specialist teachers, to adjust and develop programmes of work along the lines suggested. This process should help to ensure that all pupils, regardless of age, aptitude or physical or social circumstances, enjoy an educational experience in Religious and Moral Education which is coherent, continuous and challenging.

The starting point for such a review will be the school's or department's own policies, which will have been developed over a number of years, taking into account local circumstances, priorities and resources, and Education Authority guidelines and advice. These should now be reviewed in the light of the Rationale (Section 1), which sets out the nature, purpose and aims of Religious and Moral Education and introduces the attainment outcomes and strands. While the rationale is unlikely to represent a radical departure from existing practice, there may be a difference in emphasis on particular areas of provision which will need special attention or development, in order to achieve the kind of breadth and balance suggested.

Any review and adjustment of policy will mean that programmes or plans of work will also have to be carefully reviewed. To help with this process, Section 2 of the guidelines sets out the main features of progression for Religious and Moral Education. The structure of this area of the curriculum is outlined in the rationale by means of three broad attainment outcomes, relating to: Christianity, Other World Religions and Personal Search. Within each outcome are listed a number of strands or aspects of learning which pupils should experience; most strands have attached to them attainment targets at five levels of attainment (although some strands are described at fewer than five levels, or in a more general way).

These targets represent a progression in attainment within the strand, each target demanding more complex or sophisticated knowledge, understanding or skills than the previous one. A careful audit of existing programmes against this framework will help to ensure that all the important aspects are covered; that programmes from one stage to the next represent a reasonable progression for pupils; and that work is properly differentiated so that all pupils are presented with work which is both appropriate to their abilities and sufficiently challenging.

This process of adaptation and development will be informed by the programmes of study immediately following the set of attainment targets for each subject. The programmes of study show some of the ways in which learning and teaching activities outlined in Section 2 can be planned in relation to the attainment targets for each subject. Again, much of what is already offered will probably continue to be suitable; but the suggestions in this section will inform extensions and amendments to current practice.

The advice given in Section 3, Catering for the needs of individual pupils, will help teachers to adapt their programmes to the needs of each individual pupil and particular groups of pupils. Advice is included here about learning and teaching for pupils with learning difficulties, and for pupils who need challenges beyond those offered at Level E, which is the most advanced level of attainment described in this document.