Religious Education Provision

Religious Studies is taught as a core subject across Key Stages 3 and 4 and is available for further study as an A-Level qualification in the Sixth Form.  

The curriculum is designed to give students a breadth of knowledge and understanding of different religious and non-religious worldviews, as well as the opportunity to discuss, analyse, evaluate, and explore different philosophical and ethical issues. The Religious Studies Department are committed to providing an imaginative and stimulating curriculum and a supportive classroom environment to develop students’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural education, as well as developing the crucial skill of empathy to enable them to relate to the views of others and the diverse world around them. Students further see the significance of the content and skills studied by recognising the cross-curricular links to other subjects such as English, History, and Sociology, and through visits to significant places in the local and wider community.  Themes, concepts, and topics encourage students to be thoughtful, understanding, and develop an awareness of the increasingly globalised society in which they live.

Programme of study

Year 7

Students have one 50-minute lesson per week and tackle the following questions:

  • How do I know what is right and true?
  • How do Jewish people show their love for G-d?
  • Are humans fulfilling God’s plan?

Year 8

Students have two 50-minute lessons per week and tackle the following questions:

  • Why does God allow suffering?
  • How do Muslims know how to live?
  • Do people really love their neighbours?
  • Why do celebrations matter?
  • Do non-religious people have beliefs?
  • How does Jesus save sinners?

Year 9

Students have two 50-minute lessons per week and tackle the following questions:

  • Is death the end?
  • What is the meaning of life?
  • Can killing ever be justified?
  • How do humans decide what is right?
  • Are people born equal?
  • Is social justice achievable?

Year 10

Students have two 50-minute lessons per week and study the full course AQA A GCSE Religious Studies: Christianity and Islam.

  • Crime and Punishment
  • Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings
  • Relationships and Families
  • Islam: Beliefs and Teachings
  • Religion and Life

 Year 11

Students have two 50-minute lessons per week and study the full course AQA A GCSE Religious Studies: Christianity and Islam.

  • Islam: Practices
  • Peace and Conflict
  • Christianity: Practices

 Post-16

Students have the option to continue to study Religious Studies: A Level Religion, Philosophy and Ethics following the AQA syllabus. In this course they study:

  • Arguments for the existence of God
  • Religious Experiences
  • The Problem of Evil
  • Religious Language
  • Miracles
  • Self, Death and Afterlife
  • Ethical Theories such as Natural Law, Situation Ethics and Virtue Theory with their application to issues of human life and death as well as use of animals.
  • Meta-Ethics
  • Free will and Moral Responsibility
  • Conscience
  • Comparison of Bentham and Kant
  • The study of Christianity which includes topics such as: God, the afterlife, good conduct and moral principles, gender and sexuality, Christianity and science, and the challenge of secularisation.

In addition, the Sixth Form Personal Development programme includes tutorials and other activities that embody an approach that values lived experience and diversity within and between religious and belief traditions, and encourages young people to engage critically with the big questions in life. (This approach adopts the Essex SACRE)

Parental requests to withdraw a child from Religious Education:

As a school, we respect your right to withdraw your son/daughter from religious education (RE) lessons and/or collective worship, under section 71 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.  If this is something that you would like to request, please e-mail Mrs Spencer - Deputy Headteacher [email protected] in the first instance.