Religion

In the context of today’s world, we are advocating that RE should help the personal development of young people to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and belief, i.e. be religiously literate. At Westside School, students will access a high quality RE curriculum that engenders an interest in improving understanding of and showing respect for, different faiths and cultural diversity.

Students will access a broad and balanced curriculum which develops breadth and depth of religious knowledge and acceptance of worldviews. It is our intent for the Religious Education element of our school curriculum to engage, inspire, challenge and motivate pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore different religious beliefs, values and traditions and develop a more rigorous understanding of the numerous religious traditions, beliefs and practices that are followed in our multi-cultural society.

Our aim is for our pupils to make sense of the bigger picture of the multi-religious, multi-secular world they live in.

Programme of study Y7

Community

- Introduction

- Groups within your community

Introduction to Christianity

- Divisions and Denominations

Introduction to Islam

- Mohammed & Allah

Introduction to Hinduism

- The Trimurti

Scriptural Origins Part 1

- In the Beginning

Places of Worship

- Church

- Mosque

- Mandir

Programme of study Y8

Rites of Passage

- 7 Sacraments

- 5 Pillars of Islam

- Samskaras

Festivals

- Christmas & Easter

- Ramadan & Eid-ul-Adha

- Divali

Worship

-Mass

- Salah/Saum

- Home/Arti/Havan

Programme of study Y9

Moral Issues

- Prejudice & Discrimination

Key Figures: Nick Vujicic, Martin Luther King

- Women's Rights: Malala, Women in Sports (The Lionesses, Serena Williams)

Moral Issues

- Global Concerns

Single use Plastics, Deforestation

Greta Thunberg, Melati & Isabel Wijsen

Moral Issues

- Poverty

Mother Teresa, Marcus Rashford

Assessment

Students will be given a wide range of opportunities to apply their religious knowledge, skills and concepts of the World Religions through a variety of questions, ranging from simple recall of knowledge to providing evidence based arguments, logical chains of reasoning, and reaching reasoned and justified conclusions. Assessment records are kept for each unit of work. Homework may involve a continuation of the skills used in the classroom, or consist of a research task or a summative/formative examination.

Award: GCSE 

Awarding Body: AQA 

Specification Code: 8062 

Specification Website: GCSE Religious Studies A

This course leads on to an A-Level.

Students will be challenged with questions about belief, values, meaning, purpose and truth, enabling them to develop their own attitudes towards religious issues.

Students will also 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.

Component 1

The study of religions: beliefs, teachings and practices of Christianity and Islam. Students will study the influence of the beliefs, teachings and practices studied on individuals, communities and societies.

Christianity:

• The nature of God

• Jesus Christ and Salvation

• The role of the Church in the local and worldwide community

• Christian Worship and Festivals

Islam:

• Beliefs and Teachings

• Authority

• Practices and Worship

• Duties and Festivals in Islam

Component 2

Students will study four ethical themes from the list below:  

Theme A: Relationships and Families

• Sex, marriage and divorce

• Families and gender equality

 Theme B: Religion and Life

• The origins and value of the universe

• The origins and value of human life

 Theme D: Religion, Peace and Conflict

• Religion, violence, terrorism and war

• Religion and belief in 21st century conflict

 Theme E: Religion Crime and Punishment

• Religion, crime and the causes of crime

• Religion and punishment

Theme F: Religion Human Rights and Social Justice

• Human Rights

• Wealth and poverty

Assessments

Component 1 (50%): 

1 x 1 hour 45 minute exam 

Component 2 (50%): 

1 x 1 hour 45 minute exam

Award: A-Level

Awarding Body: OCR

Specification Code: H573

Specification Website: OCR A-Level Religious Studies

Institution: Bayside, Westside

Religious Studies involves a detailed look at the arguments for and against religious belief, as well as the philosophical basis for the different standpoints.  There is an in-depth analysis of Religious Ethics as well as a study of the main themes in Religious thought as understood within the Christian faith.  Religious Studies is useful for students interested in Philosophy, Classics, History of Ideas and Ethics, as well as having applications in Literature.  An A-level in this subject gives students many transferable skills/knowledge which can be applied to careers such as teaching and law.

Subject Content

Component O1 Philosophy of Religion

• • Theological and Philosophic Developments in Religious Belief about the nature of God

  • The Nature and Attributes of God

  • Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omni-benevolence, Eternity and Free Will

  • Boethius, Anselm, Swinburne and Plantinga

  • Religious Language

  • Via Negative, Analogical or Symbolic

  • Aquinas and Tillich

  • Religious Language 20th Century Perspectives and Philosophical Comparisons

  • Logical Positivism, Language Games and Falsification

  • Aquinas, Ayer, Wittgenstein, Flew, Hare and Mitchell

Component O2 Religion and Ethics 

• • Ethical Language

  • Meta-ethical Theories, Naturalism, Intuitionism and Emotivism

  • Significant Ideas in Religious and Moral Thought

  • Conscience, Aquinas’ Theological Approach and Freud’s Psychological Approach

  • Development in Ethical Thought

  • Sexual Ethics

Component O3 Development in Religious Thought – Christianity

• • Significant Social and Historical Developments in Christian Thought

  • Religious Pluralism in Theology and Society

  • The Relationship between Religion and Society

  • Gender and Society

  • Gender and Theology

  • Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mary Daly

  • Challenges Facing Religious Thought

  • The Challenge of Secularism from Freud and Dawkins

  • Liberation Theology and Marx 

Assessment

Philosophy of religion (01)

• • 120

  • 2 hours

  • 33⅓%

Religion and ethics (02)

• • 120

  • 2 hours

  • 33⅓%

Developments in religious thought (03-07)

• • 120

  • 2 hours

  • 33⅓%