Welcome to Dawlish College.
It continues to be an absolute privilege to be the Headteacher at Dawlish College – the staff and students are second to none and take all of life’s challenges in their stride. Despite current uncertainties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we continue to hold onto our core purpose in all that we do. Behind all of the decisions taken and measures put in place sits the balance between keeping staff and students safe whilst also providing them with a varied and exciting school experience.
Dawlish College is a vibrant and exciting place to be, where we have the highest expectations of staff and students alike and seek to provide challenge at every available opportunity. As a small school, we have a very proud record of holistic support, care and individual attention: the happiness and well-being of our students is of paramount importance and is a vital foundation for their growth and development. Our college has an atmosphere of creativity and positivity that is generated by the provision of excellent opportunities for every individual thereby maximising the outcomes and improving the life chances of the young people in our care.
As a parent myself, I understand that you want your child to be inspired, supported and challenged to be the best version of themselves within an environment that knows them and values them as an individual. Thank you for entrusting me with the care and education of your child, present or future, and I look forward to unlocking their ambitions as I get to know them and work closely with you.
S Banks
Headteacher
The Religious Studies department provides an open and accepting environment for students to explore their own beliefs and values while understanding the religious beliefs and cultural values of others. Students learn tolerance by considering alternative viewpoints and learn to express their own views clearly. They are taught to support these views with reference to their religious knowledge and understanding in preparation for GCSE.
We start the journey in Year 7 by creating an interesting and relevant foundation in which students have fun exploring some big questions around what is important to them and how their beliefs affect their actions. Alongside these personal investigations we begin to learn about key religious leaders and start to understand what really matters in religion. This develops into more specific lessons focussed on key religions and themes in which students are challenged with a number of pertinent topics linked to them and the world around hem such as creation and science; conflict and reconciliation, Buddhism and Sikhism to name a few. We aim to broaden horizons and understanding of the wider world.
All students continue to study RS through until the end of Year 11 when they will sit a GCSE in the subject. This is a valuable experience for the students both morally and practically as, even though not a core subject or an option choice, a GCSE in RS often ends up being the ‘extra’ GCSE that students need to meet the requirements set for post-16 courses. Further details of the course can be found in the Guide to Options.
For more information please contact MPeggs@dawlish.devon.sch.uk
Knowledge Organisers can be found here.