Ethics & Religious Studies
Curriculum Summary
Please click on the link below to access the Ethics and Religious Studies Curriculum Summary:
The department follows the locally agreed syllabus for Kirklees and Calderdale, which can be accessed here.
Subject Intent
Our aim is to develop a curriculum in Religious studies which will allow our students to be able to critically deconstruct religious information and issues; which in turn will lead to a coherent, logical and reasoned viewpoint. Students will be able to use their reasoning to gain a thorough understanding of religion and secular world views. We aim to promote independent and analytical thinking both in students' written work and orally.
We aim to allow our student to be able to learn both ‘about’ and ‘from’ Religion and other world views; such as Atheism and Humanism. They will develop knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, and sources of wisdom and authority; including through their reading of key religious texts, other texts eg. Catechism; and scriptures of the religions they are studying.
Students will be able to grapple with moral and ethical arguments so that they can construct well-argued, well-informed, balanced and structured written arguments.
Students will engage with questions of belief, value, meaning, purpose, truth, and their influence on human life; they will reflect on their own values, beliefs and attitudes in the light of what they have learnt and will contribute to their preparation for adult life in a pluralistic society and global community. They can understand the influence of religion and secular world views, on individuals, communities and societies and acknowledge that there are significant common and divergent views between/within religious traditions.
Excellence Statement
An excellent student in Religious Studies will be able to critically deconstruct religious information and issues; which in turn will lead to a coherent, logical and reasoned viewpoint. Their reasoning is underpinned by a thorough understanding of religion and belief. This student will be able to make connections between topics covered and incorporate them into their answers. As an independent and analytical thinker, their written work is coherent and provides reasoned judgements of the full range of elements in the question. Judgements are fully supported by appraising of evidence, leading to a fully justified conclusion.
This student will have a profound understanding of religions and non-religious beliefs, such as Atheism and Humanism. They aim to develop knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, and sources of wisdom and authority; including through their reading of key religious texts, other texts eg. Catechism; and scriptures of the religions they are studying. Their strength lies in their ability to construct well-argued, well-informed, balanced and structured written arguments, demonstrating their depth and breadth of understanding of the subject. Students engage with questions of belief, value, meaning, purpose, truth, and their influence on human life; they reflect on their own values, beliefs and attitudes in the light of what they have learnt and will contribute to their preparation for adult life in a pluralistic society and global community. They can understand the influence of religion on individuals, communities and societies and acknowledge that there are significant common and divergent views between/within religious traditions.
Qualification and Revision
Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies (Specification B)