Religious Education Curriculum

Subject aim

Religious Education (RE) contributes dynamically to young people’s education in schools by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. Through the study of religions and beliefs, they learn about and from world views in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. They learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different sources, to develop and express their insights in response, and to agree or disagree respectfully.

Details about curriculum structure

At Temple Moor, Religious Education is taught as a stand alone subject at Key Stage 3. Students study the key aspects of the major world faiths, as well as looking at bigger questions of morality and responsibilities, applying and discussing key religious teaching to a variety of social and moral contexts. There is a strong emphasis on students applying not only knowledge of Religion (Theology), but also considering how religion impacts on our thinking (Philosophy) and on our lives (Social Sciences). We ask big questions including; What is religion?, Should we keep our promises?, Why is Christianity so Diverse – is it dying or thriving?, and What do Buddhists believe?

At Key Stage 4, Religious Education is taught as one of the fundamental themes running through the Personal Development programme, with students studying religious issues as part of the wider thematic programme. Students look at issues such as Medical Ethics and Equality in a wider social and religious context.

In addition to Personal Development, we offer GCSE Religious Education as an option for students. Students follow the Edexcel Religious Studies B route. This includes two units on two world faiths, Religion and Ethics (Christianity Paper 1) and Religion, Peace and Conflict (Islam Paper 2). Both papers allow for a developed understanding of the religions themselves but also how these religions fit into a wider national and international context in the 21^st Century. Topics covered include Christian and Muslim Belief, Matters of Life and Death, Marriage and Family, Crime and Punishment, Peace and Conflict.

At Key Stage 5, issues of morality and bigger questions are dealt with through the CPD programme offered to our Post 16 students, to allow them to debate topics and issues that affect society today. By doing this we allow students to get involved in developing the skills of debate, research and critical thinking on major world themes, that often have a religious/ethical focus.

RE CURRICULUM STATEMENT

KS3, KS4 & Personal Development & Across School