d) Principle Teachers/Coordinators of Religious Education

It is the responsibility of the Principal Teacher or Coordinator of Religious Education to ensure that the classroom teaching of Religious Education is undertaken effectively in accordance with national, local authority and diocesan guidelines.

It should be noted that the wider aspects of faith formation mentioned above relate to the whole school and therefore are not the responsibility only of the Principal Teacher / Coordinator of Religious Education. For instance, a School Mission or Caring Church Week requires to be a whole-school initiative, and not solely the responsibility of the Religious Education Department. However, Religious Education in a Catholic school is faith-based and, hence, it is the responsibility of the Principal Teacher / Coordinator to liaise with the Head Teacher and others involved in whole-school faith formation in the interests of the over-all development of students. Currently it is good practice in many schools that the Principal Teacher / Coordinator of Religious Education (or a member of the Religious Education Department) is a member of the school’s Faith & Learning / Ethos Committee and Chaplaincy Team.

In relation to classroom Religious Education teaching the Principal Teacher / Coordinator has the responsibility to ensure that the content of Religious Education reflects that which the Bishop recommends. In some dioceses and in all Primary schools throughout Scotland this entails use of mandatory pupil texts. In the Diocese of Motherwell this has been relaxed somewhat in recent times to enable Secondary schools to purchase or develop a range of texts, with the Diocesan Adviser giving advice as to which are most appropriate. It must be recognised, however, that Principal Teachers and Coordinators of Religious Education still have the responsibility to ensure that texts are suitable for implementing the content recommended by the Bishop, namely that outlined in the following documents:

With regard to the above documents, the following should be noted:

It is the responsibility of the Principal Teacher / Coordinator not only to purchase and / or facilitate the development of appropriate texts, but also to ensure that the recommended content is being made accessible to students in all Religious Education classes in an appropriate way. This will result in the Principal Teacher / Coordinator, in conjunction with the Head Teacher and other members of the Senior Management Team, having a significant responsibility not only for staff development, but also for effective monitoring of learning and teaching. Considerable liaison will be necessary between the Principal Teacher / Coordinator and the Head Teacher and other members of the Senior Management Team to ensure that the appropriate staff development and monitoring procedures are implemented.

It is recognised that in all schools throughout the Diocese Religious Education is undertaken by many so-called ‘generalist’ teachers who act as part of an extended Religious Education team. It is recommended that Head Teachers recognise the added responsibility this brings for Principal Teachers / Coordinators and ensure that they are supported in the facilitation of both staff development and monitoring procedures. Ways in which this might take place are as follows:

Religious Studies:

In some Catholic schools Religious Studies courses (Standard / Higher Grade and Higher Still) are offered as an option to students. This is to be encouraged, but only as an option in addition to normal ‘core’ Religious Education. This is in recognition of the fact that the Rationale for Standard and Higher Grade courses is non-denominational and does not reflect the faith-based stance of Catholic Religious Education.

In recent years the Catholic Education Commission (Scotland) has authorised the limited use of nationally certificated units of study in ‘core’ Religious Education at S5/6 level (three selected Higher Still Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies at Intermediate 1 and 2 level). The Diocese of Motherwell supports the authorised use of these units of study. Schools wishing to make use of these units in Core Religious Education should make reference to the conditions outlined in the relevant Catholic Education Commission (Scotland) documents, namely:

Any school wishing to use any nationally certificated unit of study in years S3/4 or to use units other than the three indicated above in years 5/6 is required to obtain permission from the diocesan authorities - normally via the Secondary R.E. Adviser - prior to starting the course.