Religious education adviser raises concerns over Casterton College Rutland

The religious adviser for Rutland has raised concerns that a school may not be meeting its statutory requirements regarding how it teaches pupils in faith studies.

All secondary schools must provide a religious and physical education to pupils at Key Stage 4, but at Rutland’s Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) meeting this week, religious advisor Amanda Fitton said she had concerns that Casterton College Rutland is not putting a religious diet on its curriculum as it should be.

She said: “We know that Catmose and Uppingham meet the requirements totally through either their GCSE programme or a core programme. It is Casteron that I am concerned about. They have 18 Year 11 students doing GCSE and have no Year 10 students out of a cohort of 210 this year doing any [RE] GCSE.

“There is no reference at all to the core provision for the rest of Key Stage 4.

“And that is what I want to challenge them on, because that is worrying. We need to challenge them on it and what their core belief is and why it is not on their website.”

SACRE will now write to the school in Great Casterton, which is led by headteacher Carl Smith.

A check of the website shows that RE is currently offered as a GCSE subject.

Since the late 1980s, the government has said children must receive a religious education. At Key Stage 4, the statutory requirements are Learning for Life and Work, physical education, religious education and developing skills and capabilities. Parents can decide to remove their child from religious studies.

The school has been approached for comment.