Religious Studies

Staff Contact Details

Mr I Sharpe (Head of Department)
isharpe@wired2create.com

Mr C Koeberg
cko@wired2create.com

What’s in a name?

RE stands for Religious Education and is a very old fashioned name for a subject that is constantly changing and reflecting world events.

Religious Studies

• We now call the subject RS. This reflects the idea that the subject is about studying other people's lifestyles, cultures, religions and beliefs, AS WELL AS OUR OWN.
• RS is not just about God and facts about different religions.
• RS is about studying the world around us and the human race.
• RS cannot be placed neatly into a box, like Maths or Science.
• If you think you can learn nothing from RS, then you can learn nothing from life.

Why are we doing this?

• Why not?!
• For one day, count all the people you meet and record all the conversations you have with them. You will, without a doubt, talk about or come in contact with something/someone we study/discuss in RS.
• RS could easily stand for "Reality Studies"

What has this got to do with RS?

• A true sign of someone who needs to put everything in a box!
• RS is not a static subject.
• RS is essentially the study of humanity as a whole and therefore has a wide and varied context.
• We must see with open eyes
• We must hear with open ears
• We must think with open minds

Aims of the Course

This is a challenging and fascinating course. Everyone can participate and express their views and opinions. You will debate a variety of moral issues, for example, Can war ever be justified? Is abortion moral? Should products be tested on animals? In addition you will explore philosophical questions such as: Does God exist? Is there life after death? and Is evil necessary? All topics are approached from a Christian, Muslim and Sikh perspective. All pupils study this course and traditionally achieve excellent exam results.

Course Content

In Years 7- 9 we study all 6 major world religions in terms of Beliefs, Behaviour and Belonging.

We also study ethical/world issues in Year 9 such as : Treatment of Animals/Human impact on the Environment and Prejudice and Discrimination within society.

GCSE is a two year AQA course which focuses on:

1. Christianity and Buddhism as our two in depth religions – we look at the Teachings and Beliefs and Religious Practices of Both. This features in Paper 1 which is 1 hour and 45 minutes long.
   
   
2. Paper 2 involves the study of a number of different religious themes including topics such as:

• Animal Rights
• Environmental issues
• Abortion
• Euthanasia
• Prejudice and Discrimination
• Social Justice
• War and Peace
• Crime and Punishment

These topics are looked at through the prism of all the 6 major World religions as well as from a secular viewpoint.

Paper 2 is also 1 hour and 45 minutes long.

Both Papers are taken at the end of Year 11.