Religious Education > Key Stage 3

Course Aims:

1. Students develop and deepen their knowledge and understanding of Christianity and the other major world faiths, considering them in local, national and global contexts.  They also extend their understanding of important religious beliefs and concepts.
2. Students explore the spiritual dimension of people’s lives and consider religious beliefs and moral values and their implications in terms of faith commitment and stances for living.
3. Using their understanding of religious and philosophical beliefs, teachings and practices, students consider a range of ultimate questions and moral issues, with a focus on relationships, rights and responsibilities.
4. Students explore the range of reasons for similarities and differences in religious beliefs and values, both within and between religions.
5. Students develop their evaluative skills when considering religious and spiritual issues, learning to express their own point of view and those of other people in a reasoned and balanced way.

Course Outline:

Year 7:

• Introduction to R.E. – God, Me and My Neighbour
• What does it mean to be a Christian?
• Festivals of Light – including Christmas, Chanukah and Diwali
• Christianity and Justice
• PSHE

Year 8:

• What's it like to be a Sikh?
• Jesus - This is Your Life
• What's it like to be a Hindu?
• A Worship Experience - exploring Worship through Art and Music
• Rites of Passage
• Is it OK to be Rich?
• PSHE

Year 9:

• Exploring Belief
• What's it like to be a Buddhist?
• Men of Faith - Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
• Jesus and the Way of the Cross
• Death and Beyond
• Crime and Punishment
• Relationships (This Unit is part of the Sex and Relationships Education entitlement of Year 9 students as required by the Governors.)
• PSHE

Assessment in RE:

RE has two Attainment Targets:

AT1 – Learning about Religions looks for knowledge and understanding about what people believe, what people do and how people express themselves.

AT2 - Learning from Religion looks for an ability to respond to and evaluate questions about making sense of who we are, making sense of life and making sense of right and wrong.

Levels in RE: There are 8 levels, plus an additional one for Exceptional Performance. At the end of each unit students are set an Assessment Task and they are awarded a level based on their response to the task. When the work has been marked they are then given guidance about what they need to do in order to achieve the next level.