Curriculum Team Leader:
Ms Tara Askew (t.askew@tgs.starmat.uk)
Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all, or any part of the RPE curriculum. If you wish to do so, please contact the school to discuss this.
Key Stage 3
In Key Stage 3 Religion, Philosophy and Ethics our specialist RPE staff teach using innovative learning styles alongside ICT.
Year 7 – Students focus on all three strands- Religion, Philosophy and Ethics. In term one students study, ‘An introduction to RPE: Believe it or not’, which incorporates Philosophy and Ethics and the reasons behind different degrees of belief or nonbelief. In term two students focus on ‘Who is Jesus’ and delve into the theology of the religion and look at the key events in his life. Finally, in term 3 students complete a Philosophy unit on ‘Ultimate questions’ . Students focus on key skills of debate and discussion on key aspects of life such as why are we here and what is after death.
Year 8 – Students complete all three strands of RPE once again. They begin by examining ‘Living the Eastern Life’. Students look at the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Incorporating ways of life through beliefs and practices of all three religions, ultimately drawing upon the understanding of what it is like to be a Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh today. In term two students study ‘Is Death the End?’. Students look at this big question through the lens of multiple different religions as well as non religious viewpoints. Students learn to evaluate the importance of religion, the views from atheists, to understand the impact on people’s actions to be a better person. Finally in term 3 students study ‘Inspirational people’. Ethics is the main strand that is studied in this unit and students have the opporting to learn about religious and non religious, inspirational people. This unit involves research and presentation skills on a chosen person and their morality.
Year 9- Students complete an ethical unit from RPE named ‘Power, Peace and Conflict’. In this unit students extend on their debating and presentation skills, looking at the ethics of War, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Pacifism and the Just War Theory. The unit then focuses on the Holocaust and Judaism as our case study to evaluate the importance for equality and treating everyone with kindness and respect. In term two students study, ‘The Philosophy of Evil and suffering’. In this they focus on interpretations of: right and wrong, why are we here? What is our purpose? Are we free? Key philosophers are studied such as Plato, Aristotle, John Hick and Plantinga to name a few. In term 3 the last ethical strand of KS3 is ‘Relationships’. Students debate different views in relation to Homosexuality, Feminism/ Women’s rights/ Divorce and contraception.
As part of our spiral curriculum, knowledge learnt in ‘Power, Peace and Conflict’ directly helps the understanding for those taking RPE GCSE in Year 10 & 11- explicitly the ‘Peace and Conflict topic’. Whilst ‘Relationships’ aids ‘Families and Relationships’. Giving students a flavour of what is to come!
Key Stage 3 Curriculum OverviewKey Stage 4
In Year 10 students have the option to study towards the full AQA A GCSE qualification (RPE).
Current Year 10 students are studying ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘Religion and Life’ and then will move onto the ‘Religions’ paper starting with ‘Islamic Beliefs’. In Year 11 students currently study ‘Islamic Practices’ and ‘Christian Beliefs and Practices’.
All students follow a Personal Development course (3 hours per fortnight) in Year 10 which covers aspects of RPE alongside a ‘Life Skills’ curriculum.
Key Stage 5
Philosophy & Ethics
Year 12 – Students follow the new AQA A Level specification. As part of this specification they complete one unit on Philosophy and Ethics and one unit on Christianity. The philosophy and ethics unit covers the design argument, the cosmological argument, the ontological argument, evil, religious experience, natural law, situation ethics, virtue ethics, human life and death and animal life and death. The Christianity element covers sources of wisdom, God, death and afterlife, moral conduct and religious identity.
Year 13 – The A2 course for Philosophy includes the nature of religious language, religious experience, life and death, nature of God and miracles. In Year 13 students continue to study ethical theories, looking at other issues including Free will, Meta Ethics and the role of the conscience in ethical decision making and explain how free our moral decision making really is. Students also look at the language we use in ethical discussion and how we determine the meaning of words such as ‘good’. The Christianity unit covers gender, women’s rights, science and religion and the environment.