The Green School for Boys

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Religious Education

Head of Religious Education: Ms A Coates

CURRICULUM VISION

Our intent is to ensure that RE is an academic, demanding, and inspirational subject; that RE promotes valuable skills of critical analysis and evaluation that are developed through challenging  lessons and to provide access to a range of different experiences to ensure inclusive development academically, morally and spiritually. 

 

In particular our students will:

  • strive for academic excellence and consistent progress. 
  • develop spiritually and morally through reflection on their own and others beliefs. 
  • learn to evaluate the coherence of religion, philosophical and ethical arguments and develop analysis skills. 
  • develop convincing written arguments, as well as learning to debate and make arguments orally. 
  • explain beliefs and practises of the world religions and respect all beliefs. 
  • respect and give dignity to all believers and non-believers within the school community and the larger multi-faith community. 
  • come to well-informed judgements utilising relevant and well chosen evidence to support.
  • develop skills important for progression in KS4 and KS5. 

 curriculum provision

What is Religious Education?

RE is the study of religion, philosophy and ethics. Students will be exposed to all of the 6 main world religions with an emphasis on Christianity due to the school’s Christian ethos. However, students will also get a good understanding of all world views due to the multi-faith setting that the school is in.  Within RE students will not only understand beliefs and practices of faiths, they learn to be religiously literate individuals that can think deeply.

 Why do we study Religious Education?

Religious Education is about understanding yourself and understanding the world. Religious Education at The Green School for Boys’ plays a vital role within the curriculum and the wider context of the School. Each student involves themselves in thinking deeply and tackling interesting and challenging topics. We aim for religious literacy, while looking at belief systems, ethical choice and philosophical arguments.

What do we study?

  • In Key Stage 3 we aim to encourage pupils’ thinking skills along with knowledge and understanding of their own beliefs and those of others.
  • The GCSE course gives students the opportunity to study Christianity and Islam in depth from philosophical and ethical viewpoints. During this time we aim to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity and other worldviews that offer answers to challenging questions.
  • In the Sixth form students can choose to continue studying Philosophy and Ethics as an A Level subject.

To view a full summary of our KS3 and KS4 R.E. curriculum please click R.E. Curriculum   

To view information about Philosophy and Ethics A level at the Green School Sixth Form please click here          

At the Green School for Boys’ we use the above teaching to ensure that our curriculum is well-rounded, balanced, and  supports the boys to develop a respect for all worldviews and cultures, including the 6 main world religions, secularism, philosophy and ethics. 

CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

 How do we study Religious Education? 

Our ethos strives to widen the personal, social and spiritual development of every individual student in the school through a variety of activities and range of learning  techniques. Students can enjoy a combination of independent work, group projects and discussions. In lessons there is often a focus on students working to think independently then share their ideas with a partner or in group then debate and evaluate their ideas as a class.

Presentation of Work 

A student’s RE exercise book is their learning journal which is a valuable resource when it comes to reviewing learning. Each student’s book  should be neat, legible and contain their very best work. Date and title of each lesson must be underlined. Each unit will start with a unit checklist for self- assessment and each end of unit has a feed forward sheet to allow for student reflection. When students are completing feed forward they must use green pen to feedback.

 Home Learning

Home learning is an integral part of the curriculum and tasks are aimed to either consolidate knowledge from the lessons or to prepare students for future learning. Tasks could involve independent research of a particular idea or creative work as well as use of google knowledge quizzes to test recall. When no specific task is set students are always encouraged to read around the current topic.

 Co - curricular activities

In all year groups students will have opportunities to go on visits to a variety of places of worship to developing their understanding of each living faith.

Year 12 and year 13 moral maze events during enrichment activities.

How parents/carers can support their children

  • Students can visit local libraries and learn how to use the library for research. Any form of regular reading will enhance your child’s vocabulary which will improve their learning in Religious Education.
  • Encourage an awareness of current world events through reading newspapers and watching news programmes. 
  • Encourage debate and discussion at home about current events or ethical topics to develop debating skills and stretch their own ideas. 
  • Show support through asking students what they are studying and open up discussions at home.

Recommended Reading

KS3:

  • 'Alice’s Adventures - Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll.
  • 'Theo’s Odyssey'  by Catherine Clement
  • 'Sophie’s World' by Jostein Gaarder
  • '101 Ethical Dilemmas' by Martin Cohen
  • 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

KS4:

  • Kerboodle Christianity and Islam. 
  • 'CPG Books New Grade  9-1 GCSE Religious Studies: AQA' A Revision guide
  • 'AQA GCSE (9-1) Religious Studies Specification A' Hodder Education
  • 'AQA GCSE Religious Studies A: Christianity', Oxford University Press
  • 'AQA GCSE Religious Studies A: Islam', Oxford University Press
  • 'GCSE Bitesize Religious Studies' https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/subjects/zb48q6f
  • 'BBC Religions : Islam' http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/
  • 'BBC Religion: Christianity' http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
  • 'My life, My Religion: Islam' BBC Documentary
  • 'My life, My Religion: Christianity' BBC Documentary
  • Truetube.com Short Films
  • 'The Life of Prophet Muhammad' BBC Documentary Series
  • 'Crash Course Philosophy' Youtube Channel
  • “The Bible Project” Youtube Channel
  • 'The School of Life' Youtube Channel

CURRICULUM IMPACT

We are delighted to confirm that in our SIAMS inspection October 2019 R.E. was given the top grade of EXCELLENT and the school was graded EXCELLENT overall. To read the full report click here.

 

Assessment

  • Formative assessment will take place in lessons through discussion and plenaries as well as google quizzes for home learning tasks. 
  • Summative assessment takes place at the end of a topic where strengths and improvements are identified and students respond to this feedforward. 
  • There are formal examinations at the end of each year.

Careers Leading on from RE

  • Lawyer, Doctor, Advice worker, Archivist, Charity fundraiser, Counsellor, Civil Servant, Community development worker, Editorial assistant, Newspaper journalist, Teacher, Police office, Youth worker
  • This list is not exhaustive, Religious Education gives students the analytical skills that are relevant in any career or venture.
  • To view more information about our school Careers programme please click here