Religious Education
Key Stage 3
In Key Stage 3 students access RE provision for 60 minutes per 2-week cycle. We follow, where possible, the guidance from the North Yorkshire Agreed Syllabus. RE contributes to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. Activities are planned for students to provide opportunities for curiosity and imagination.
Year 7
Students begin their study with an enquiry into the culture of the surrounding area, and what it means to be human. The students are then challenged to consider how religion is part of culture, e.g. the celebration of Christmas by non-Christians. Our aim is to promote respectful curiosity about the lives of others. Students then explore ‘What it means to be a Muslim in Britain today’. Considering and challenging stereotypes, racism and islamophobia. We endeavour to go to a mosque and meet members of the Islamic community. Our focus then turns to an example of an eastern religion and students explore ‘What it means to be a Sikh in Britain today’.
Year 8
Students explore what the word truth means...what is real...how do we know? They will start with the Parable of the Blind Man and the Elephant, move onto Plato’s Cave and then onto ethics – where do our ethics come from? We look at a number of ethical theories, some religious such as situation ethics and natural law, and others which are not, such as deontology and utilitarianism. From here, we ask the question ‘why is there suffering?’ and look at religious and non-religious responses to the question.
Year 9
Students evaluate beliefs, and the reasons for them, surrounding life after death, both religious and nonreligious. Students will then investigate and compare the different death rites of the six major religions. They evaluate why these are important to believers, and how they reflect their beliefs about the afterlife. The course ends with an introduction to the philosophy of religion, how can we prove or disprove the existence of God. We look at the design, cosmological and ontological arguments before finishing with a look at religious experiences.
Enrichment
We aim to take Year 7 students on a mosque visit. Year 8 students visit the local churches. Representatives from Humanism, Buddhism and Christianity are invited into school to talk to the students. Students are invited to attend the philosophy and ethics club on a Monday evening.
Useful links:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zh3rkqt
All Year 11 students study GCSE RE and students in Year 10 have the option to study GCSE RE alongside core RE which is studied by all students.
Core RE
All Year 10 students have 1 lesson of core RE a fortnight. The question which underpins KS4 Core RE is ‘What is the value of life?’ We begin with a general look at the sanctity of life, and then we look at a range of issues from a religious, a secular and an ethical perspective, which include: abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering and capital Punishment.
GCSE Religious Education
Year 10
The first year of the GCSE is a study in depth of Christianity as a lived religion within the United Kingdom and throughout the world, and its beliefs and teachings on life, specifically about Philosophy of Religion and issues of equality and social justice.
There are four sections: Christian Beliefs, Philosophy of Religion, Living the Christian Life and Equality. Students learn to explain and evaluate the significance and importance of the various beliefs, issues and practices of Christians today throughout each of the four sections of the syllabus.
Year 11
The second year of the GCSE is a study in depth of Judaism as a lived religion within the United Kingdom and throughout the world, and its beliefs and teachings on life, specifically within families, and with regard to matters of life and death.
There are four sections: Jewish Beliefs, Marriage and the Family, Living the Jewish Life and Matters of Life and Death. The significance and importance of the various beliefs, issues and practices to Jews today are explored throughout each of the four sections.
GCSE R.E Specification
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/religious-studies-b-2016.html
Enrichment at Key Stage 4
- Students are taken to visit both a Reform and Orthodox synagogue.
- Students are invited to attend the philosophy and ethics club on a Monday evening
- Students in Year 11 are also invited to join the Sixth Form trip to Krakow and Auschwitz
Useful links:
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zh7bxyc
- https://www.myjewishlearning.com/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvp8f4j
A Level Religious Studies
We look at the philosophical arguments surrounding the proof of God’s existence and non-existence such as the ontological argument and evil and suffering. We look at ethical theories, such as utilitarianism, and in applied ethics we apply those theories to issues such as the environment and medical ethics. As our study of religion, we study Judaism from a historical, a theological, a philosophical and an ethical point of view.
Students study the following units:
- Philosophy and Religion: Philosophical issues and questions; The nature and influence of religious experience; Problems of evil and suffering; Philosophical language; Works of scholars; Influences of developments in religious belief.
- Religion and Ethics: Significant concepts in issues or debates in religion and ethics; A study of three ethical, theories; Application of ethical theories to issues of importance; Ethical language;
- Deontology, Virtue Ethics and the works of scholars; Medical ethics: beginning and end of life issues.
- Study of Religion - Judaism: Religious beliefs, values and teachings; Sources of wisdom and authority; Practices that shape and express religious identity; Social and historical developments; Gender, the Holocaust and Zionism; Works of scholars; Religion and society; Primary texts.
A Level Religious Studies Specification:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/religious-studies-2016.html
Enrichment at Key Stage 5
- Our students take part in candle conferences each year.
- Our students take part in the live survivor testimony on Holocaust Memorial Day.
- Our students are invited to join a trip to Krakow, where we spend a day at Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as going to the Jewish quarter in Krakow, the synagogues, the restaurants and the Schindler Museum.
Useful Links
