In March “The Independent” reported that 77-pupil Gwinear School in Cornwall had won a national award for its treatment of religion and gay rights. The poster in the school corridor reads: “Little, gay, black, Asian, Gypsy, Jewish, dyslexic, Polish, male, Cornish, lesbian- BRITISH” “The school wants to engage with the real world. Education is more than just getting good test results….….though they’re also important,” said the County’s RE and PSH Adviser.
The school uses role models who are asked to attend assemblies to speak to the children about themselves and their beliefs. It also has an annual “Modern Britain Week.” They are not likely to meet many of the persons declared on the poster in rural Cornwall, apart from seasonal agricultural workers who may be ethnic European. The school could have neglected such multi-cultural, multi-faith teaching, like so many reported in that 1999 Ofsted comparative study as a rare small school weakness. Inspectors have come across vicar/Chairs of Governors simply refusing to allow anything other than Christianity to be taught. Yet many roots of Christian history in the Old Testament are shared by Islam which also recognises Jesus as a prophet at least.
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