Religious Education

Welcome to the Department of Religious Education:

“The unexplained life is not worth living” (Socrates)

Teacher of RE

Ms R. Henry-Mclean

KS3 Religious Education

The key stage 3 RE curriculum at Ernest Bevin College focusses 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.

Year 7

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

Year 8

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

Year 9

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

Key Stage 4 (Years 10 &11) GCSE Religious Studies

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: