Religious Studies

KS3 Religious Education

Religious education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. It develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions, other religious traditions, and other world views that offer answers to these challenging questions. It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development. It enhances pupils’ awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression, as well as of the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures.  RE encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions, while exploring their own beliefs and questions of meaning. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics and to communicate their responses.  RE encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging. It enables them to flourish individually within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society and global community. RE has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. It enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. It promotes discernment and enables pupils to combat prejudice.

Within Year 7 pupils investigate the themes of;

Religion in the locality, Relationships, Marriage and Space

The 6 Major World Religions

Buddhism

Christianity

Hinduism

Islam

Judaism

Sikhism

in relation to the teachings of the 6 major world religions and festivals

Within Year 8 pupils investigate the themes of:

Right and wrong; Time & Power

in relation to the teachings of the 6 major world religions and festivals

Pupils also investigate people throughout history that have a religious commitment from two religious perspectives, these are;

Martin Luther King

Mother Teresa

Mahatma Gandi

Dalai Lama

Anne Frank

 

 For more information regarding National Curriculum Religious Education can be found here, and descriptions regarding KS3 Levels of Attainment can be found here.  Additional information can be found on the Bradford Interfaith Centre web site.  For video information regarding the world religions please follow this link.

 

KS4 Religious Education

All students from the start of Yr 9 study AQA GCSE Religious Studies B.  Students throughout Yr 9 & 10 follow Unit 4 - "Religious Philosophy and Ultimate Questions" - and at the end of Yr 10 they sit a Short Course GCSE Paper.  The following information may help answer questions you may have - Articles of Faith;  BBC/religion; BBC/education/Darwin; Counterbalance;  God and Science; RE:Quest; Science and Religion in Schools; Think Quest/creation; Wikipedia/Darwin.

In Yr 11 students study Unit 2 - "Religion and Life Issues" and prepare to sit the full course paper.  The following information relates to Unit 2; - Scheme of work / Explanation of Terms

KS 5 Philosophy & Ethics of Religion

Post 16 students are able to study Philosophy and ethics of religion.  This specification is flexible, allowing teachers and candidates two options.

• They can focus on one coherent area of Religious Studies
• Or they can undertake a broader study of religion through a variety of eclectic but complimentary topics.

Teachers may enter candidates for AS units in January or June.

Specification’s main features:

• offers teachers a comprehensive range of options to design a course which reflects their specialism and engage candidates
• covers a wide choice of topics including: ethics, philosophy, the six major world religions, aspects of Christianity, religion and art, and religion and contemporary society
• offers candidates an opportunity to build understanding and skills - not necessarily with prior knowledge.

AS outline

At AS, this specification offers an academic approach to the study of religion and is accessible to candidates of any religious persuasion or none. A wide choice of topics is offered for study including ethics, philosophy, the world religions, aspects of Christianity, religion and art, and religion and contemporary society:

• Units 1 and 2: Introduction to Religious Studies.  AS Unit 1 studies Utilitarianism, Situation Ethics, Abortion and Euthanasia whereas Unit 2 investigates the Religious Experience, Psychology and Religion, Atheism and Postmodernism.  Formal assessment consists of two AS examinations lasting one hour and fifteen minutes each.  Students answer any two questions from four on each paper.

A2 outline

At A2, the specification enables candidates to study in greater depth aspects of one or more religion(s), including textual, theological, historical, ethical, phenomenological and philosophical perspectives:

• Unit 3: Studies in Religion
• Unit 4: Religion and Human Experience.