Religious Education
Subject Philosophy/Purpose
Religious Education is a subject that is fundamental to an individual’s understanding about wider social issues. Whether we are personally religious or not, religion has historically shaped the society we live in and continues to do so. In an ever-growing multicultural society, it is vitally important that students are given the opportunity to study, understand and respect different religious beliefs. RE explores the social and philosophical meanings that individuals and groups make of their experiences and how this helps them give purpose to their lives as well as exploring the morality around many common day issues that we face in our society.
RE has a longstanding history of being a popular subject at Westwood which challenges students academically, morally and philosophically. It is a subject that has many benefits to future career paths such as a Chaplin, working in education, health care, charity fundraiser/officer, community development worker, equality, diversity and inclusion officer, solicitor, youth worker and police officer.
Curriculum Vision/Intentions
The aim of the curriculum is to enthuse our students about different religions, to become passionate about moral issues that we face in our society and to be accepting of others beliefs. Through the study of RE students will have the opportunity to reflect upon their experiences and the mysteries of life and the contribution of religious and spiritual views in understanding experiences.
Religious Studies should enable pupils to:
- The teaching environment fosters a safe space for students to express their opinions, teacher student relationships are a strength in the department. We help students to apply their knowledge of RE to others subject areas such as Biology, Art, History, English, enabling and inspiring them to achieve highly.
- We aspire for all students to complete Key Stage 4 with the skills, knowledge and understanding of the world that enables them to be healthy, thoughtful and responsible individuals. We aim to support students in fulfilling their potential, helping them to achieve the highest possible results, progress and attainment.
Curriculum Implementation
In Year 9 students have 2x 60-minute sessions per timetable cycle, in mixed ability groups, where they are taught three topics: The Problem of Evil, Medical Ethical and Symbolism. These topics allow students to build on their knowledge and understanding and skills developed during RE in the Middle school, whilst also preparing them for the content studied at Key Stage 4 for the GCSE and non-examined RE course.
The link below contains schemes of work for the Year 9 course.
Year 9 RE SOW
At Key Stage 4 students can opt to continue on a GCSE course, the AQA Syllabus A in Christianity, Islam and Ethical studies. Students have 5x 60-minute sessions per timetable cycle.
The AQA Religious Studies Syllabus A GCSE is monitored continually through the course for progress, with exam style assessments and full past papers trial exams. Students sit 2 exams at the end of Year 11 where they receive 1 overall GSCE grade 1-9.
Further detailed information on the specification can be found on the link below.
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-a-8062
The link below contains schemes of work for the GCSE course.
GCSE SOW, Year 10 and 11
Extracurricular:
The department provides extra group and individual revision for students prior to assessments. We are excited to expand our links with the local and wider community through charity work.