Overview

The Religious Education Department at Abbey Gate College encourages students to discuss what belief is, gain an understanding of different religions and investigate ethical and moral issues. Key aims of the department are:

• To stimulate and maintain an interest in Religious Education
• To encourage students to explore and develop their own beliefs and values
• To develop the students’ awareness of the relationship of modern-day events to religion
• To enable students to have an understanding of the different religions and to help them become more tolerant members of the wider community.

Curriculum

The curriculum covered in the Religious Education Department is as follows:

Year 7

Year 7 students start their studies by exploring the question ‘why do we study RE?’ and spending time exploring and sharing their own beliefs and values.  During the Autumn term they explore the six major religions, investigating their founders, followers, symbols and key ideas. They also look at the important concepts of truth, belief and faith by developing their understanding of the ‘ultimate questions’ in the world in which we live. To consolidate pupils’ understanding of the six major religions in the Spring and Summer terms, there is a focus on the different religions’ understanding of what ‘God’ is.

Year 8

Year 8 students focus on the practice of worship and belief in the six major religions and how this affects the lives of their followers, including studying the different rules of living for religion in the Spring term. Students also explore how different religious people have experienced ‘God’ and miracles.

Year 9

Students continue to build on their prior knowledge of the main religions in Britain as well as beginning to explore how more ethical and philosophical ideas facing modern society are influenced by religion. Themes include: morality; evil and suffering; and freewill and determinism. Finally, students investigate how religions are affected by prejudice and discrimination and how their teachings and beliefs help them to tackle and overcome these issues.

GCSE

At Key Stage 4, students have the option of following the AQA Religious Studies A (8062). We study the beliefs and practices of Christianity and Buddhism as our main religions in Component 1.

Students also have the opportunity to explore four thematic topics for Component 2:

• religion and life;
• religion, peace and conflict;
• religion, crime and punishment;
• religion, human rights and social justice.

There are two written exams at the end of Year 11, worth 50% each, and both 1 hour and 45 minutes. There is no controlled assessment.