Pupils at a Moray school undertaking a study into the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis have been praised for the excellence of their training programme by Education Scotland.
The national education watchdog has picked out the work being undertaken at Forres Academy, where pupils and staff have been studying the importance of the stones as part of their religious and moral education programme.
The Bronze Age monument was used as inspiration to create a series of lessons to help students connect with the idea of spirituality and religious belief, and were used to demonstrate the historic belief systems and how the unique geographical location of the site played a significant role in early astronomy.
Education Scotland have now included a case study about the Callanish Stones on film on their ‘Journey to Excellence’ website aimed at helping to inspire other schools throughout Scotland.
The film is designed to complement Education Scotland’s 3-18 thematic review of religious and moral education which was published last year.
Marj Adams, Principal Teacher at Forres Academy said: “Using the stones as a vehicle to explore the beginnings of religious belief in our ancestors was a really interesting way of hooking our students into religious and moral education.
“The stones helped students understand the relationship between belief and the natural world and gave them the opportunity to reflect upon their own beliefs and values to make links between them and those of their ancestors.”
Lesley Brown, Assistant Director Education Scotland said: “We are really pleased to launch this case study from Forres Academy exemplifying features of innovative work in Religious and Moral Education.
“We hope this is a helpful professional learning resource that will support teachers develop their practice, which in turn improves outcomes for children and young people.
“The film case study by Forres Academy is one of 34 available from the Journey to Excellence website to demonstrate the breadth and depth of quality learning experiences for children and young people across a range of settings.”
More information about the Journey to Excellence is available on a website.