Hampshire school staff provided with creationism guidance

School staff in Hampshire have been provided with new advice about how to deal with debates about creationism and evolution.

The county's standing advisory council for religious education (Sacre) has produced the guidance, which is part of a joint syllabus for science and religious education.

It is being distributed to 70 secondary schools in Hampshire, with the advice aimed at teachers of pupils aged between 11 and 14.

Chairman of Hampshire's Sacre councillor Anna McNair Scott commented: "The report is intended simply to advise schools about resources they can use to encourage reasoned enquiry and open discussion about creation and evolution."

The key stage 3 guidance includes information about how to address the tension between these issues, including the suggestion that school staff discuss why Darwin's theories were ridiculed in the 19th century.

It has been produced despite a poll that was produced in December last year that found opposition among science teachers to the idea of teaching creationism alongside the theory of evolution.

Conducted by Ipsos Mori, it found that 65 per cent of those surveyed were against this idea.

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