Religious Education / Philosophy: Vision Statement
Studying R.E will equip our students to function as a sensitive and knowledgeable member of society. Students will get to study a broad range of religions and Philosophical concepts as part of the R.E. curriculum. In the 21st century it is essential that students see beyond their individual circumstances to the global situation around them.
Religious Education / Philosophy: Design Rationale
How has the curriculum been designed? The R.E. curriculum has been designed to help students explore cultures and beliefs beyond their individual experiences. The R.E. curriculum offers a broad range of Religions and Themes for students to study. The curriculum in KS3 builds towards further study of the subject at KS4 and links to a diverse range of subjects at KS5 and beyond by mapping a sequence of modules that ensures that prior learning is built on and is reflected on throughout.
What are the Big Ideas?
We have chosen three ‘Big Ideas’ that thread through the entire R.E. curriculum.
These are:
- Expressing
- Believing
- Living
Why have these big ideas been chosen?
These big ideas reflect the requirements of the Derbyshire Locally Agreed Syllabus. The big ideas are thematic and cover religions including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism. The three big ideas are also designed to help students cover range of Philosophical thought linking to KS5 Philosophy.
RE Curriculum Map
Key Stage 3
Year 7
Religious Education
In Year 7 students will investigate all three of the Big Ideas through the following questions.
How do Sikhs express their faith?
Is death the end? Does it matter?
Does religion help people to be good?
Year 8
Religious Education
In Year 8 students will investigate all three of the Big Ideas through the following questions.
How can people express the spiritual through the arts?
Do we need to prove God’s existence?
Would the world be a better place without religion?
Year 9
Religious Education
In Year 9 students will investigate all three of the Big Ideas through the following questions.
How do religious and non-religious people express morality differently?
Why is there suffering? Are there any good solutions?
Should happiness be the purpose of life?
Key Stage 4
Year 10/Year 11
At KS3 students have R.E one hour a week in Year 9 they can then opt to do GCSE R.E which is taught over two/three hours a week. Those that do not opt for the GCSE still receive the statutory input of R.E through a course called social studies (GCSE students also receive this course). Social Studies consists of a carousel of activities each taking a third of the year Computing, PSHE and R.E.
The GCSE course follows the AQA Religious Studies A specification as part of this we study two religions Christianity (compulsory) and Islam (optional). We opted to teach Islam as the comparative religion because this suited the skills of our teaching staff of four all of whom have the necessary knowledge about Islam to teach it whereas this was not the case with the other optional religions e.g. Judaism. Many misconceptions exist about Islam (this was identified through teaching elements of Islam in KS3) and our mainly white British cohort have little knowledge of it so therefore we felt it was important to cover this. Islam is also an important religion to study in terms of the socio-political climate of the UK currently. It also compliments the study of Christianity with some contrasting and overlapping beliefs and practices. There are 8 units of work in total and these are split evenly across Year 10 and 11 (four in each). Students start in Year 10 with Beliefs and Teachings in Christianity and Islam, these are both compulsory units and can be applied to the other units of work studied in Year 10 and 11, this is why they are covered first. Students start in Year 11 with Practices in Christianity and Islam, again these units are both compulsory. Students study two optional units in Year 10 and Year 11, Relationships and Families, Religion, Peace and Conflict, Religion and Life, Crime and Punishment. The optional units are less content driven than the compulsory units and so we give student time to embed the knowledge from the compulsory units during the optional units rather than covering all the compulsory units at once. The optional units were chosen because they seemed the most relevant and interesting also examiner feedback seemed to suggest that students performed best on these units.
More information on the GCSE specification can be found here:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-a-8062
Key Stage 5
Year 12/Year 13
PHILOSOPHY
A LEVEL- Exam Board: AQA
What will I learn on this course?
Philosophy is a diverse subject where students will have the chance to learn from some of the greatest thinkers of all time, as well as unearthing some of the most fundamental elements of being a human being in the world. They will learn effective communication, critical and logical thinking, and an ability to grasp all angles of an argument and deconstruct it to get to the crux of an issue. The modules we will study are:
· Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)
· Moral Philosophy
· Metaphysics of Mind
· Metaphysics of God
How will I be assessed?
A Level – 2 x 3hr Examinations
How is this course delivered?
In your first year you will cover:
· Epistemology: Reason and experience (How can we know what we know? What is reality? What is truth?)
· Ethics (Is there a way to work out what is right and wrong? Is there objective morality? Utilitarianism, Virtue Ethics, Deontology)
In your second year you will cover:
· Philosophy of mind (What is consciousness? What are the limitations of our knowledge of the ‘mind’? Is the mind different to the body?)
· Philosophy of Religion (Can we logically argue that there is a God? What are the strongest arguments in favour or against God’s existence?)
What can I do after this course?
Students can follow a post-graduate course in Philosophy at most universities where they will deal with many of the issues from A Level, but with much more depth.
Student Feedback
· “I love exploring the world in a way no other lesson allows me to. I’m encouraged to think beyond usual boundaries”.
· “Philosophy is by far my favourite subject and has made me question things around me a lot more than I used to”
· “Philosophy is full of interesting topics. The skills needed for the lesson are crucial to some other subjects as well. e.g. essay writing.”
· “Philosophy is unlike any other subject I have studied. It is deep, thought-provoking and encourages genuine intelligent discussion like nothing else I’ve experienced in school.”
What careers would this course be useful for?
The skills gained doing a Philosophy A Level are considered some of the most transferable to future employers; clarity of thought, communication, independence, logic, as well as the ability to analyse and evaluate. Big business, journalism, management, teaching, accounting, advertising, law, politics, the civil service and banking are all areas that are enthusiastic about people who’ve done philosophy, because they know how to think clearly. A Philosophy A Level can prepare you for nearly any field imaginable.
For further information contact: Miss McPhee
Year 12/13 Debate Club
This club is open to all Year 12 and Year 13 students however is particularly useful for those studying Philosophy. It is run at lunchtime and students debate subjects of their choosing under staff supervision.
Teaching staff
- Miss J Burks
- Ms E McPhee
- Miss H Windle
Request for Student Withdrawal from Religious Education
Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of the R.E. curriculum. As a school we feel that academic and ambitious Religious Education is important for the development of all students as active and knowledgeable members of a multi-cultural, multi-faith British and global society. The R.E. Department have strived to create a curriculum that equips students with not only knowledge but interdisciplinary skills which are beneficial in a range of subjects e.g. English, Geography and History. Please note that students withdrawn from R.E. do not use this time to enhance their learning of other areas of the curriculum e.g. extra mathematics. If you wish to withdraw your child, please contact the Head Teacher to arrange a discussion.