Welcome to the Department of Religious Education:
“The unexplained life is not worth living” (Socrates)
| Head of Humanities | Ms L. Powell |
The key stage 3 RE curriculum at Ernest Bevin College focuses on four key themes:
- Historical and Cultural Context:
Students learn how religions change and develop over time. This includes the historical reasons for changes in beliefs and the connections between faiths.
- The Lives of believers
Students also learn about how belonging to a religion affects the daily life of believers. How do their religious beliefs shape their decisions and their relationships with others?
- Tolerance
The world is full of people with very different beliefs and opinions. Students will learn how to respect the beliefs of others who may have views that are different to our own.
- Religion in Society
The final theme concerns how different religions live together in the modern world and how sometimes this can lead to conflict and challenges
Assessments:
Each unit of work will have 3 written assessments, usually set as homework which will build up student’s skill at writing explanations and essays which need to evaluate different perspectives in RE. At the end of each term students will also sit an exam style assessment for which they will need to revise everything they have learned that term.
Autumn Term: Intro to Critical Religious Education
- Introducing CRE
- Nature of ultimate questions and how do we know what is real?
- Introducing World Views
Spring term: Judaism
- Beliefs: Abraham and the covenant, 10 plagues, Exodus, Orthodox and Reform and the 10 commandments
- Practices: Passover and Shabbat
- Holocaust
Summer: Christianity
- Beliefs: Birth, life, death
- Practices: Baptism, Catholics and Protestants and influence of the sacrifice
- Christian Art
Autumn Term: Islam
- History: Abrahamic connection, Life of Muhammad
- Beliefs: divine or man made, 6 beliefs, 99 names of Allah and key events
- Practices: The five pillars
- Islam and society: Sunni and Shia
Spring Term: Hinduism
- Hindu belief: Gods Goddesses and the afterlife
- Pluralism
- Hindu Practice: worship and practice
- Hinduism and society: caste system and Gandhi
Summer Term: Buddhism
- History: Siddhartha the Hindu and Life of the Buddha
- Beliefs and Practices and society: 3 Universal Truths, Middle Way, 4 Noble Truths and Enlightenment
Autumn Term: Sikhism
- History: Origins of religion and Sikhism
- Beliefs: revelation and the Guru Granth Sahib
- Practices: 5ks and the Langar
- Sikhism and society: Sacred Thread
Spring Term: Ethics
- Ethical theories
- We do we get our morals from?
- Applied ethics
Summer Term: Philosophy
- Arguments for and against the existence of God
What you will study:
AQA SPEC A
GCSE is split into 2 exams that are taken at the end of Year 11
Paper 1: STUDY OF TWO RELIGIONS:
Islam & Christianity
Paper 2: THEMATIC STUDES:
Four religious, philosophical and ethical studies
Theme A: Philosophy and the existence of God
Theme B: Religion and life
Theme C: Religion, peace and conflict
Theme F: Religion, Human Rights and Justice
Assessment
2 Written exams:
- 1 hour 45 minutes in each exam
- 96 marks in each exam
- (Plus 5 for SPAG)
- Each exam is worth 50% of GCSE
Skills you will gain:
Studying Religious Studies at GCSE; students will gain an appreciation of how religion, philosophy and ethics form the basis of our culture. They will develop analytical and critical thinking skills, the ability to work with abstract ideas, leadership and research skills. All these skills will help prepare them for further study.
Career Paths from studying RE at GCSE and A-level:
- Medicine
- Financial and Legal Teams/Law
- Journalism
- Teaching
- Youth Worker
- National and local government (Politics)
- Civil service
- NGOs
- Psychology
 Red Tie students at a Faith Direct event organised by Wandsworth Council to introduce young people to different religions |
Year 10 GCSE RE Trip to St Paul’s Cathedral, |
Green Tie students attend Faith Direct |
