What makes us passionate about our subject? (Intent)

For us as teachers, the values and skills outlined in the impact statement below are sufficiently important to us that we want to enthuse our students with these.  Our overarching aim is to teach students to think, following Kant’s advice, that ‘It’s not what to think, it’s how to think’.  John Dewey wrote, “We only think when confronted with a problem.”  In our subject we therefore aim to present students with problems, puzzles and paradoxes, challenging them to explore ideas outside of those they too easily accept as true.  This enables students to understand the world around them, especially the society and communities in which they live and the people with whom they share those spaces.  It is our hope that encouraging students to think more deeply about their preconceptions and biases will lead them to greater understanding and tolerance, creating a sense of global citizenship and responsibility. 

What do our students gain by studying our subject? (Impact)

As students progress through the course, they are presented with the opportunity to acquire greater understanding of the world around them and to become excited about ideas, cultures and traditions.  Tolerance begins with knowledge and in RE and Philosophy they are given the opportunity to explore a range of ideas about life, people and the role that religion plays in the lives of others.  This is achieved by studying religious and non-religious beliefs, values and ways of living and by asking questions, conducting further independent inquiry and learning to make judgements around a range of topics such as identity, diversity, belonging, meaning, purpose, values and commitments.

Students gain and develop a range of thinking, speaking and writing skills as they are encouraged to study these concepts.  They begin to understand and develop the skills needed to analyse, evaluate and conduct further enquiry and express and communicate their own ideas.  Students are, furthermore, encouraged to adopt a greater open-mindedness and challenged to think about their personal goals, the values they adopt or reject and the overall meanings they ascribe to their own lives.

RE Curriculum and Assessment

GCSE

At GCSE we use AQA and all students complete a Full course GCSE in Religious Education

To visit the examination board website click http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-a-8062

A-Level

To visit the examination board website for Religious Studies click Here