PRE
Our Philosophy, Religion and Ethics curriculum is unqiue to Avanti. Its emphasis on critical thinking and mindfulness make it ground breaking. It gives pupils opportunities to deepen their own spiritual insight, consider the world’s major religious beliefs, deepen their knowledge of the distinctive Hindu tradition which inspires the school’s ethos and celebrate the common positive values which all faiths share.
Whilst the curriculum is rooted in the Chaitanya Hindu tradition, the intention is to learn comparatively, so that there is a dialogue about the similarities and differences across faiths and other world views, including humanist, naturalist and atheist.
Ofsted have commented about Avanti schools that, ‘provision in the school for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very strong.’ Our PRE-curriculum provides a platform from where pupils can discuss big life questions. Learning about how to live a life based on the Avanti values. Pupils and parents often comment on how PRE has helped pupils understand more about life and helps them to be a better person.
PRE plays a large role in the development of pupils spiritual insight.
“The basic principle of the living condition is that we have a general propensity to love someone. No one can live without loving someone else. This propensity is present in every living being. Even an animal like a tiger has this loving propensity at least in a dormant stage, and it is certainly present in the human beings. The missing point, however, is where to repose our love so that everyone can become happy.” – Srila Prabhupada
To be truly wealthy is to have a fulfilled heart, and that means to love and be loved. The joy of love is the true wealth inherent in all of us, and learning to recognise it is what spiritual insight is all about.
Everything we do at Avanti aims to inspire spiritually compassionate changemakers. Our distinctive philosophy, religion and ethics curriculum intends to achieve this aim: through cultivating curiosity to explore life’s big questions with open hearts and minds, through religious learning to foster humility, love, and a sense of interconnectedness with all living beings and divinity, and through ethics to shape conscious changemakers who embody virtues and think critically. In so doing, we equip our children and young people with the tools to lead meaningful, joyful lives, and make a positive contribution in the world.
While parents and carers do have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of PRE (by contacting the school office), we believe that participation can greatly enrich children and young people’s understanding of the world and those around them.
Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra deities at Krishna Avanti Primary School, Croydon
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