Philosophy, Religion & Ethics is included in the curriculum for all students. The curriculum considers the belief systems of the main world religions and develops understanding of how belief relates to life style choices and decision making.
Students attend assemblies on a regular basis and are asked to consider and reflect upon important issues or events to encourage their moral, social, spiritual and cultural awareness.
There is no emphasis on any one religion or belief system. Parents/carers have a legal right to withdraw their children from worship and religious education on grounds of conscience by written request to the Headteacher. In such cases, a student will be given independent Study Support/extension work in the Learning Resource Centre or other suitable learning environment.
Key Stage 4 (GCSE)
PRE follows the AQA Religious Studies A course. The programme of study is broken into two 1 hour and 45 minute papers:
Paper 1:
- Christian Beliefs and Teachings
- Christian Practices
- Buddhist Beliefs and Teachings
- Buddhist Practices
Paper 2: Themes
- Religion, Crime and Punishment
- Religion and Life
- Religion, Human Rights and Social Justice
- Religion, Peace and Conflict
Ultimately, the aim of the course is to develop the student’s sense of morality and allow them to critically engage with issues that form the very fabric of our society.
The students will sit two papers at the end of Year 11, one for each unit studied. They are equally weighted.
Paper 1 Religion and Life Issues – 1hr 45 minutes (50%)
Paper 2 Religion and Morality- 1hr 45 minutes (50%)
Key Stage 3
The aim of the Key Stage 3 PRE curriculum is to develop key skills and knowledge of religious and world issues. Students will develop reasoning, analysis and questioning skills from the outset.
Year 7 focuses upon more open exploration into Religious and Secular groups.
- Autumn Term – What is truth? An exploration into the Buddha’s Truths.
- Spring – How does Art help us understand people’s beliefs? A pictorial journey through Christian beliefs.
- Summer – If you don’t believe in a god, do you believe in nothing? An examination of secular beliefs, epistemology and education
Year 8
- Autumn – Islam – An exploration into Key Islamic beliefs and the misunderstood nature of the faith
- Spring – Prejudice and Discrimination – Exploring underlying causes of prejudice and discrimination and Christian and Muslim responses to social injustice.
- Summer – The Debate Series – A cycle of debates covering issues such as the Death Penalty and Animal Experimentation.
Year 9
- Autumn – Religion, War and Peace – This unit of study is an AQA RS B unit that focuses upon the ethics of war and role of religions in the peace-making process.
- Spring – Religion and World Poverty – Again, this unit of study is an AQA RS B unit that focuses upon Christian and Buddhist responses to wealth and helping the poor.
- Summer 1 – Buddhism, the fundamentals – The study of basic Buddhist principles and how they are applied to real life situations and practices in preparation for the GCSE.
- Summer 2 – Christianity, the fundamentals – The study of basic Christian principles and how they are applied to real life situations and practices in preparation for the GCSE.
Throughout Key Stage 3 and 4, the student’s will be given the opportunity to tackle very important issues that often are presented in a biased and partial way. This will allow them to develop their own moral compass so that when faced with ethical dilemmas in real-life they are skilled in evaluation and analysis of differing beliefs.