Department Leader: Amy Holland

PRE at KBA follows the Northamptonshire SACRE Agreed Syllabus to study and explore worldviews through three disciplinary lenses: Theology (believing), Social Sciences (living) and Philosophy (thinking).  This includes a focus on the six major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism) and a range of other worldviews including Humanism.  The rest of the curriculum comprises of units to encourage learners to reflect on the world around them in order to shape their own world views.  

“What is wanted is not the will-to-believe, but the wish to find out”

Bertrand Russell

At KBA we do not tell our students what to think, but we do ask them to think.  Our aim is to encourage and support students to learn to be respectful to those who see the world differently, to clarify their own world views and be well-rounded individuals who can play a positive role in society and community.   

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Arisotle

Philosophy, Religion and Ethics is a highly regarded academic subject. It is traditional enough to be highly respected by employers and Universities but modern enough to engage people of any age… the content affects everyone.

Transferable skills:

  • Critical, logical and analytical thinking skills
  • An ability to interpret information, formulate questions and solve problems
  • Personal reflection
  • Discursive and persuasive writing
  • The ability to express complex ideas

Year 7:

Students begin their studies of worldviews at KBA secondary with an introductory unit exploring how people form their beliefs about the world. This includes philosophical thought experiments based on general curiosity about the world, as well as how people form their varying beliefs, or non-beliefs, about God. Later on in the year students will develop their critical thinking skills by exploring how people form their ethical compass including their own; how do we make ethical decisions? What impacts our moral choices? How does society attempt to drive shared ethics?

 

In between these units of study, students will explore a brief overview of the major world religions (worldviews), as well as some of the sacred spaces each major religion visits as part of their religious practice, from synagogues to gurdwaras.

 

Year 8:

Students will continue their philosophical studies in Year 8 by embarking on a unit covering some of the ultimate unanswerable questions in life. What is the meaning of life? What happens when we die? Why do people believe in God? What does it mean to be human? Students will be challenged to come up with their own answers for these questions, whilst supporting them with logical arguments, and analysing other philosophers’ attempts to answer these unanswerable dilemmas. Continuing on this theme, students will embark on a unit of study exploring and evaluating differing beliefs about the creation of the universe from a range of cultures and worldviews, including those from the indigenous peoples of Australia and North America, the Judeo-Christian creation story as well as the more scientific views, the big bang theory and evolution. Leading from these differing ideas on creation, students will explore the ethical issue of animal rights and how they should be treated by humans.

In the second half of the year students will return to a more theological programme of study exploring how varying worldviews actually influence their lives in the modern day. This will begin with a look at the importance of Jesus as a human for Christian believers as well being a historical figure in his own right. Students will continue by revisiting some of the foundational Muslim beliefs covered in Year 7 build on these with a focus on how their beliefs impact their daily lives. Students complete the year with further development on their understanding of the Dharmic faiths; Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, again focussing on their beliefs and practices but more importantly, how these influence believers’ lives.

Year 9:

Students begin by looking at how different people come to make their ethical decisions. By analysing thought provoking hypothetical moral quandaries students will begin to evaluate how they make their own moral choices as well as how varying philosophers believe one should try to work out the best course of action in any given situation. Students will then apply their new knowledge to different ethical topics that have troubled mankind for centuries such as capital punishment and medical ethics.

Students will then embark on two units of study exploring firstly, the diversity of different beliefs within the Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Exploring why there can be such different views within the same religion, as well their similarities. For example, what is the difference between a Catholic and a Quaker?  This unit will lead on to a programme exploring alternate beliefs within our society such as those of Pagans and Jehovah’s witnesses.

To finish off their Key Stage Three studies in PRE, students will cover one of the biggest philosophical quandaries, the problem of evil. This where students question the existence of a caring, powerful God, with so much suffering in the world. This will lead students onto possibly the greatest example of man-made evil in human history, the Holocaust, known from a Jewish perspective as the Shoah. Students will study this historical event in their History lessons at the same time as their PRE lessons, in order to allow for a holistic study, covering religious responses to the Holocaust considering the challenge it has posed for Jewish believers when considering the problem of evil; ‘How could a loving God allow man-made suffering on such a dramatic scale?’

Homework:
Homework will be set weekly. Homework is in the form of pre-learning and revising key content using the platforms Satchel One and Seneca.
 
Assessment:
Lessons include knowledge retrieval questions to assess prior learning. Lessons involve the active use of mini whiteboards to check for understanding and to provide real time feedback and to deal with misconceptions quickly. Students will complete written assessments during the academic year where they will be given teacher feedback on how to improve. Students will sit a mid-year test in January and an end-of-year test in the summer term.

Contact:
For further information/clarification about KS3 PRE please contact Mr S Atkinson.

All students are expected to engage with the study of Religious Education until the end of Year 11. All students in Years 10 and 11 will also engage with PRE in dedicated drop-down sessions as part of the Character Curriculum and other areas of their wider curriculum (e.g. History, Geography, English).  This may be explicit PRE content or as a theme within another aspect of study e.g. the impact of religious division in Early Elizabethan England (History) or the religious symbolism of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (English).
All of our students have the ability to choose GCSE Religious Studies (AQA) as one of their exam options and can follow the full course specification throughout Years 10 and 11.
AQA A GCSE Religious Studies - Philosophy, Religion and Ethics
The study of two traditional world religions is fused with the exploration into philosophical, ethical and contemporary issues.  Students will be challenged to examine what they believe and do and compare and contrast this with the two faiths studied. They will be required to provide reasoning and evidence for beliefs and practices as well as the ethical and philosophical positions held by the religions studied.
GCSE Religious Studies (AQA, full course) content:
•    Christian Beliefs
•    Christian Practices
•    Buddhist Beliefs
•    Buddhist Practices
•    Thematic unit: Relationships and Family
•    Thematic unit: Religion, Peace and Conflict
•    Thematic unit: Crime and Punishment
•    Thematic unit: Religion, Human Rights and Social Justice

Contact:
For further information/clarification about KS4 PRE please contact Miss L Shocklidge

KS3 Useful resources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zh3rkqt

http://www.rsrevision.com/contents/index.htm

https://www.educationquizzes.com/ks3/religious-education/

KS4 Useful Resources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion

http://www.rsrevision.com/contents/index.htm

https://www.clear-vision.org/Schools/Ask-a-Buddhist.aspx

http://www.rsrevision.com/contents/newgcse_aqa.html

http://www.rsrevision.com/GCSE/index.htm

https://clearvision.education/students/

BBC Bitesize AQA GCSE Religious Studies – Buddhism https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxchbk

BBC Bitesize AQA GCSE Religious Studies – Christianity https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zbndy9q

Parry, Hayes & Butler, AQA GCSE (9-1) Religious Studies Specification A, Hodder Education, 2016, ISBN: 1471866858
Fleming, GCSE Religious Studies for AQA A: Christianity, OUP, 2016, ISBN: 0198370334
James, GCSE Religious Studies for AQA A: Buddhism, OUP, 2016, ISBN: 0198370326

Right for Parents to Withdraw their Children from RE, Collective Worship & Sex & Relationship Education
In England and Wales parents have the statutory right under Section 71 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to withdraw their children from RE lessons and acts of Collective Worship in schools. You can also request a withdrawal from any subjects/ lessons/assemblies involving discussions on the topic of sex and relationships.
As parents you are not obliged to give a reason for requesting the withdrawal.
However, before exercising any right of withdrawal, we would recommend you discuss your concerns with the class teacher or Headteacher. 
Should a pupil be withdrawn from those learning activities/lessons, they will be supervised by a member of staff, typically at the back of a smaller sixth form class. As parents, you will be required to provide work for your child to complete during this time. 
Requests for withdrawals are made in writing; please see the text below as an example:
As parents of [child's name] we formally request that he/she is withdrawn from worship/RE/Sex and Relationship Education of any kind in future, without any detriment.

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