Religious Studies

What is Religious Studies?
Religious Studies examines the history and the nature of belief.  It helps pupils to consider questions of meaning and purpose in life, and to address questions about the nature of values in human society.  Students are provided with the information and strategies to make informed judgements about moral and religious issues.  By studying the way religion engenders a sense of identity, students begin to develop their own sense of identity and belonging, preparing them for life as citizens in a pluralistic society.

Your child will:
Become familiar with a wide range of beliefs and practices, both in their own society and in the wider world.
Gain confidence through expressing their own beliefs and feelings, and actively listening to those of others.
Recognise that the familiar and known can allow us to understand the unfamiliar and unknown – seeing our own experiences as the foundation of understanding those of others.
Be encouraged to respond creatively and imaginatively to religious ideas – seeing religion as a source of wonder and inspiration rather than a list of rules and rituals.

What will your child study?

Year 7
Quaker faith and practice – what did George Fox and other prominent Quakers believe in? What does Quakerism stand for? Why is the peace testimony so important to Quakers?
Heroes of faith – pupils learn about people of different religions who have been inspired by faith to make it a better world.  Among those studied are Archbishop Oscar Romero (Roman Catholic), Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu), The Dalai Lama (Buddhist) and Martin Luther King (Baptist).

Years 8 and 9
The six major religions of the world are covered – one each term in the following order:

1.    Hinduism      4.    Islam
2.    Buddhism     5.    Judaism
3.    Sikhism          6.    Christianity

The approach to these faiths continues to be as enquiring, experience-based and practical as the first year’s programme.

How Will Your Child Be Assessed?
Your child’s classwork and homework will be regularly assessed.
Your child will be told how their work can be improved, if necessary.
Positive effort and involvement will be praised and rewarded with verbal praise and/or merits given.

Work set for your child will be differentiated:
By providing extension tasks where appropriate.
By using a variety of teaching methods, concentrating on active involvement of pupils.
By providing differentiated tasks where appropriate.
By making use of LSA support in the classroom where it has been allocated.

Homework is set once every two weeks in order to:
Reinforce and extend tasks begun in class.
Research topics in greater depth or detail.

What activities will your child take part in?
Your child’s learning of Religious Studies will be enriched by visits to places of worship and speakers from different faith backgrounds.

Creative work such as drama, role play, poetry, artwork, musical improvisation and craft projects are incorporated into lessons whenever possible, to encourage an active style of learning and to foster the ability to work as part of a team.

By Year 10 students will already be familiar with the basic ideas and traditions of six world religions.
The majority of students will be entered for the short course but there is the opportunity for some to complete the full course.

RS  Short Course GCSE
The GCSE short course in Religious Studies takes a fresh look at this subject, examining just two religions, Christianity and Islam, in greater depth. In this way we are able to examine the ways in which religious belief helps people to make sense of the big issues in their lives.

As society continually evolves, and science and technology forge ahead with "miracle cures" for medical and social problems, many people are left wondering what is right and wrong. How can we decide for ourselves in the "moral maze"?  Examining the views of religious thinkers, both past and present, gives students a starting point for making up their minds.

In this course, students' understanding of religion is challenged and extended as we look at some of the different responses to life-and-death issues of our time, for example – abortion, euthanasia, animal experimentation, cloning, artificial reproduction – exploring the religious and moral dimensions of these difficult and complex subjects. There is no attempt to promote one view as right or better than another. The aim is to encourage students to look at the evidence and evaluate these ideas for themselves.

Assessment
One written paper of 1hour 45minutes.
The exam paper is marked according to:

Students' knowledge and understanding of the two religious traditions studied (Christianity and Islam).
Students' ability to demonstrate knowledge and appreciation of different points of view.

The course combines these two elements, in the context of the study of the sacred books and special festivals of the two religions. Class discussions are used to practise expressing and listening to different viewpoints.

Specification: WJEC Religious Studies 4459/SC Specification B
Click here to download the current specification for this GCSE course

RS  Full Course GCSE
Students also have the option of taking an additional paper which upgrades the exam into a full course. This involves additional study, covering the same topics but in greater depth.

Assessment
Two written papers of 1hour 45minutes.

Specification: WJEC Religious Studies 4450/SA Specification B
Click here to download the current specification for this GCSE course

AS and A Level

The AS course covers two main areas, the Philosophy of Religion and Eastern Religion.

Philosophy of Religion

The Philosophy of religion could be said to begin with Socrates (470-399 BC) regarded by many as the “father of philosophy.”  He was condemned to death and executed because many people thought that he was trying to undermine belief in God.

Many people have suggested that science was the “new religion” of the 19^th century.  It seemed to be addressing many of the questions that religion had formerly tried to answer.  It is interesting that innovators of science such as Darwin and Galileo were often condemned for the same reasons as Socrates, and yet their ideas have since also been recognised and widely accepted.  It could be said that philosophy is the “new religion” of the 21st century because it enables each person to examine what they have been told and what they experience and to reach their own conclusions.  What was seen at threatening and anti-religion to the contemporaries of Socrates is now seen as an exciting way of opening our minds to a new way of thinking which brings new light into all that we learn and experience.

Some of the topics covered in this module are:
Does God exist?
Can God be experienced?
How can believers account for the existence of suffering and evil?
Is there life after death?
How can moral standards be applied?

Eastern Religions

The second element of the course is an in-depth study of one of the Eastern religions, namely Buddhism.  Students felt that they would like to look at traditions outside the West and which would give a perspective different from that of Judaism and Christianity which are the focus of GCSE Religious Studies.  GCSE students will already be familiar with the basic elements of these religions and at A level there are opportunities to explore their challenging ideas in far more depth and detail.  Concepts such as karma, atma, nirvana and moksha can be re-visited and examined with the help of ancient and contemporary scholars from the Buddhist traditions.  Trying to translate such concepts is fraught with difficulties because, in order to be true to the actual meaning of the ideas, one must establish the context and culture in which they arose.  This is what we attempt to do in studying Eastern religions at A level – rather than condense these ideas into a Western/Christian framework, we try to look at them as part of a completely different way of looking at the world.  Like the study of Philosophy, this should enable us to gain a whole new way of thinking.

In the words of Quaker Faith and Practice:
“Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come?”

If you are, then A level Religious Studies could be just the course for you!

Specification: OCR Religious Studies AS H172  A H572
Click here to download the current specification for this A level course.

Assessment:

AS Level
G571: AS Philosophy of Religion
Candidates are required to answer two two-part essay questions from a choice of four. 50% of the total AS marks. 1.5 h written paper. 70 marks

G576: AS Buddhism
Origins of Buddhism and certain key beliefs and practices.
Candidates are required to answer two two-part essay questions from a choice of four. 50% of the total AS marks. 1.5 h written paper.  70 marks

For A2:
AS Units as above, G571& 6, each being 25% of the total Advanced GCE marks - plus:

G581: A2 Philosophy of Religion
Themes in philosophy of religion relating to authority, language and life and death.
Candidates are required to answer two open essay style questions from a choice of four. 25% of the l A level marks. 1.5 h written paper. 70 marks

G586: A2 Buddhism
Themes relating to authority and truth, life and death and experience.
Candidates are required to answer two open essay style questions from a choice of four. 25% of the A level marks. 1.5 h written paper. 70 marks