Religious Education

Right of withdrawal from religious education

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from religious education and/or collective worship, please contact admin@wilmington.latrust.org.uk in order to do this.

Our aim is to provide an engaging and inclusive Religious Education (RE) curriculum that allows all students to reach their full potential, develop a love of learning and understand how important different religions are and how they impact the world today. It is more important than ever to understand the way the world is affected by different world views and world religions, and to engage in debate and conversations surrounding key topics and moral issues we face in the world today. Students gain the opportunity to learn why the world is the way it is today and become inquisitive, globally aware citizens.

What’s the purpose?

Our RE curriculum allows students to retain vital substantive knowledge, focus on critical thinking and gain a wider perspective on the world religions of today and their foundations in society and many other aspects of global citizenship. We want pupils to be prepared for the world and as an IB World School, it is our duty to engage with topics such as religions which will make pupils more open-minded and caring individuals.

The curriculum focuses on the six key world religions; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism and covers broad themes such as How different religions show worship, each religion and their use of holy books, Who are the different religious leaders and how are they represented, ethics and ethical dilemmas, symbolism within religion and its uses and diversity in religion across the world. Within our curriculum, students are encouraged to reflect on the differences between religions and why this belief has become integral to someone’s faith. Our curriculum is constantly reviewed to ensure that it meets the needs of our current students and shapes them to be well rounded individuals that are knowledgeable and able to analyse and think independently about the world around them.

Key points

At Key Stage 4, students have their religious studies lessons as part of the bespoke tutor time programme. The RE sessions focus on creating experiences and discussions focused around world religions and how they affect the makeup of the world. These sessions will cover moral dilemmas such as medical ethics and religions as well as existentialism and the way that religions react to issues that we face in the world today. These include facing realities in the current climate and how religions affect the decisions made as well as how pupils can individually see the way their decisions affect the world and global, political and social climate today.

The breadth and depth of our RE curriculum will ensure that all students can be challenged in developing the skills and knowledge needed for them to be successful. This will ensure that they have the ability to access the next step in their education and in their lives.

Intent

The Religious Education Curriculum at Leigh Academy Wilmington meets the statutory requirements as set by the DFE. Religion and World Views are key to understanding who we are and how our lives can be shaped by these concepts. They will learn about key concepts such as ‘religion’, ‘secularity’, ‘spirituality’ and ‘worldview’, and that they are complex and diverse. This can include the ways in which worldviews develop in interaction with each other, have some shared beliefs and practices as well as differences.

In RE, pupils will learn about how religions came to be, what their key beliefs are and why these still impact our world today. Pupils will explore both religious and non religious world views, using a range of disciplines to fully comprehend why religion is such an imperative global subject. This will be evident by covering ritual and practices, foundational texts, in the communication of experience, beliefs, values, identities and commitments, which link to the British Identity Profile.

Pupils are able to understand the themes of belief, expression and belonging, which can change through worldviews; within local, national, global and historical contexts. Pupils will be able to offer responses to fundamental questions of meaning and purpose, and consider the different roles that religions play in providing people with answers to making sense of the world. Pupils will be able to focus and analyse  the different roles played by religions and worldviews in the lives of individuals and societies.

Implementation

Impact

The impact of World Religious and Religious Education is that students develop an understanding of the world around them, learning to enquire not just locally, but nationally and globally. This widens their perspective beyond their immediate situation and ensures students develop skills that are vital for them in the wider world. An interest in global issues and an understanding of the cultures they are likely to encounter will develop students into well rounded individuals that are more outgoing and an understanding of issues that will impact their lives and choices.

Intent

We aim to give students an appreciation of how religion, philosophy and ethics form the basis of our culture. Students will be challenged with questions about belief, values, meaning, purpose and truth, in order to develop their own attitudes towards religious issues. We also aim to promote the development of students’ evaluation and analysis skills to encourage critical thinking skills, the ability to work with abstract ideas, leadership and research skills. All these skills will help prepare them for further study.

Implementation

Students will consider different beliefs and attitudes to religious and non-religious issues in contemporary British society. They will learn about Christianity as the main religious tradition of Great Britain, but also know that religious tradition is diverse.

Students will study Christian beliefs, teachings and practices including differences between the denominations of Christianity. The second religion studied will be Judaism, including Orthodox and Reform Jews. Again, students will learn about their beliefs and teachings. They will be taught about their basis in Christian and Jewish sources of wisdom and authority. This knowledge will help develop students’ understanding of how that religion influences individuals, communities and societies.

Through the three themes that are studied students will also learn about other religious and non-religious beliefs such as atheism and humanism so that they are able to compare and contrast different religious attitudes towards each of the themes.

Impact

The breadth and depth of the Religious Studies curriculum will ensure that all students can be challenged in developing the disciplinary and substantive knowledge needed for them to be successful with key skills such as debating and research. This will ensure that they have the ability to access the next step in their education and in their lives. Skills include evaluating religious arguments, weighing up evidence, debating and presenting both sides of an argument, analysing religious texts and their meanings, student led enquiry and developing key literacy and numeracy skills, which are important not just for our subject but across multiple disciplines. 

Assessment

For more information, please read our assessment recording and reporting cycle.

Additional resources

Recommended revision guides which can be purchased via Amazon:

• AQA A Religious Studies revision guide
• AQA A Religious Studies practice workbook