Religious Studies

Department

Religious Studies is an interesting subject that examines some ‘big questions’ and encourages pupils to reflect on their own beliefs about the world-whether they believe in God, are agnostic or atheist.

In the RS department we aim to enable pupils to have the ability to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and worldviews. Pupils will be able to make sense of religion and the worldviews around them and begin to understand the complex world in which they live. RS is primarily about helping pupils to become free thinking, critical young people who can make academically informed judgements about important matters of religion and belief which shape the global landscape.

Curriculum

In Key Stage 3 we cover a diverse range of topics which help to improve our understanding of people and the religious influences on our lives. Topics such as:

Introduction to Quakerism
Ethical debate
Arguments for the existence of God
The impact of the lives of significant figures from history
A study of different World Religions

We follow the CCEA GCSE Religious Studies specification which encourages students to develop an enquiring, critical and reflective approach. Students are encouraged to think deeply and have a curious mind.

We discuss issues such as the existence of God and how we decide the difference between right and wrong, through our two modules, Philosophy and Ethics.

Students cover two areas of study in each year of sixth form. In Year 13, pupils study Religious Ethics with Special Reference to Medical Ethics and also Philosophy of Religion. At A2, the topics are Themes in selected letters of Paul and Global Ethics.

The modules studied at both GCSE and A Level equip pupils with highly marketable skills valuable for today’s world.

The skills include the ability to think and write clearly; to explain complex ideas; to tease out connections and implications and to see things in a broader context. These transferable skills will help pupils make the move to the world of work or university.

The skills learned in Religious Studies mean that it has value and relevance to a number of different career paths. In recent years our A-Level Students have pursued degrees and careers in Medicine, Philosophy, Nursing, Education, History, Politics, Psychology, Law, Criminology, Languages, Business Studies and Sociology.