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Religious Philosophy
"Religious Education's position in the curriculum is to give space and priority for children and young people to make sense of their own and other people's deepest beliefs and values by which they will live their future lives." (Professor Brian Gates, Chair of the Religious Education Council of England & Wales)
‘The highest result of education is tolerance.’
-- Helen Keller
‘The important thing is not to stop questioning.’
--Albert Einstein
The Religious Philosophy Department at CDPS follows the guidance laid down by the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus 2006-11. We encourage our students to reflect upon their own religious or non-religious beliefs and learn about and from others. We want our students to be inspired and been challenged. Building Learning Power is embedded in our lessons and we encourage our students to become independent and enthusiastic learners.
The Schemes of Learning provide students with gain knowledge, skills and understanding of religion and beliefs. Students study Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism and then aspects of other principle religions. All students receive RP twice a fortnight from Years 7-10. In Year 9 we begin the WJEC specification B GCSE short course which they sit in the summer of Year 10. However, there is full course option and some students take full course RP and that tops up the short course unit in Year 10 with the Religion and Human Experience further short course in Year 11 .Throughout Key Stage 3 students are assessed by AT1 – Learning from and AT2 – Learning about.
KS3 Religious Philosophy
When students join us in Year 7 they start their secondary education looking at Religion and the Environment, which examines creation theories and the issue of stewardship. From the very start of this course students are encouraged to question and discuss issues. They will start to see what role they have as stewards to the environment. The next unit to be studied is Equality, tolerance and respect through a Sikh perspective. Students will learn about Sikhism through their way of life. Once again this allows them to reflect upon their own attitudes towards moral living. The next challenge that students face are ultimate questions over The existence of God? As a result students learn to share their own thoughts and then to tolerate the beliefs that are held by others. Finally, Year 7 will look at the Moral teachings of Jesus through the Beatitudes. They will look at the Bible as a source of authority and how Christians put these teaching into practice.
Year 8 launches with students questioning and explore the issue of Suffering from the Buddhist and Christian perspectives. They will look at the different types of suffering and they ways in which people react to suffering. Students will examine the topic looking at both Christian and Buddhist teachings. It will allow them to reflect upon their own views. In the spring term students look at What it means to be a Christian. This provides students with key Christian teachings which are an essential to the WJEC short course which they study in Year 9. Students will study the story of Nicky Cruz and also advertising Christianity. Finally, they will look at How Religious Beliefs Motivated the Actions of… two key individual Aung San Suu Kyi and Oscar Romero. The unit looks at the issues of human rights which continue to be an issue in society today.
Year 9 begins with a study of What it means to be a Muslim in Britain. Students will look at key Islamic teachings and appreciating the difficulties of following the faith in a non-Muslim country. We will look at Islamophobia and the role media has in influencing the public. Again this provides the foundation in the key Muslim beliefs required for the WJEC GCSE short course. Then students start the WJEC short course and the unit of Relationships. The topics are studied from a Christian and Muslim Perspectives and the topics include; sexual relationships, same-sex relationships, marriage, divorce, re-marriage and adultery. Following on, the second unit to be covered in Year 9 is Is it fair? This unit involves a study of Prejudice, discrimination, wealth, poverty and human dignity.
KS4 Religious Philosophy
Year 10 is the last year of RP and students complete the final two units. They start with Our World which covers creation, environmental issues, stewardship and animal rights from Christian and Muslim perspectives. The final unit is Looking for Meaning looks at how people experience and respond to God, the concept of God/Allah, suicide, euthanasia, funeral rites and life after death. In the build up to the examination in May students will focus on examination technique, including WAWOS, and thorough revision of the units.
GCSE RP - Y10 Short Course
GCSE RP - Y9 Full Course
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Religion and Conflict |
Religion and Medicine |
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Religion and Expression |
Religion, State and Authority |
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Religion and Human Experience |
Mock Resources: |
Revision guides are still available in the Finance Office at the cost of £1.50.
Useful Links:
rsrevision.com
