Head of Faculty
Mrs L Witchard – Head of RE e-mail
Members of Faculty
Name | Role | |
---|---|---|
Mrs S Lockyer | Teacher of RE/Vice Principal | |
Mr G White | Teacher of RE | |
Mrs J O’Riley | Teacher of RE – Assistant Head of Faculty | |
Mrs V Godber Scott | Teacher of RE | |
Rev Deacon S O’Looskan | Teacher of RE/Chaplain | |
Miss M Barber | Teacher of RE |
RE Curriculum Intent Statement
RS KS3 Overview
RS KS4 Overview
RS KS5 Overview
Faculty Introduction
The RE faculty is built around the instruction we are given at the end of Mass – to ‘Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life’ – We firmly believe that this is our mission as the lead faculty of the school.
The RE faculty nurtures and encourages ‘confident and reflective young people and gives them a strong moral and spiritual foundation’ – they will have grown because of the wealth of experiences and opportunities that we provide for them.
This all hinges on ‘an engaging, relevant & enriching curriculum’ – in KS3 we plant the seed of interest and wonder as we take them through a liturgical, sacramental and Christ-centred journey to prepare them for KS4 – the content of which addresses head-on the issues of today’s world within the context of the Catholic Church and the life of Jesus Christ.
Using this knowledge, understanding and in order to bring the subject to life we see ‘student centred liturgy’ as an integral part of our role. This allows students to reflect further on their experiences in the classroom and to understand the place they fill as members of the ‘Church’.
The RE classrooms are a sanctuary for our young people where they are a part of ‘a fully inclusive and welcoming experience’ – one which ensures that all their needs are catered for; where each child is recognised as a child of God with equal value.
Faith is a gift – and we hope that through their RE experiences our ‘young people will grow to be witnesses to their faith in the wider community’ – ready to take their places and answer their individual vocation. To be our ambassadors in local parishes, primary schools, national youth events, Ghanaian communities.
These charitable experiences will see them focus on ‘social justice’ and the ‘common good’ – imperative in our celebrity culture and materialistic society. They will choose Christian role models and habitually choose to ‘walk humbly’ with our God.
Please click here for RE homework.
KS3
Classes are taught as form groups by all members of the faculty and have 2 hours of RE per week. Staff within the faculty have collaboratively written a Scheme of Work using ‘The Curriculum Directory’ and this is spread between 6 modules per year.
The Scheme enables our students to develop knowledge and understanding of the four areas set out by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales – Revelation, The Church, Celebration and Life in Christ.
For more information please click on this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to download the directory.
http://www.catholiceducation.org.uk/schools/religious-education
KS4
Classes are taught in mixed-ability groups receiving two hours per week in Year 9 and 10 and three hours per week in Year 11. We follow the EDUQAS specification in Religious Studies B – Component 1: Fundamental Catholic Theology, Component 2: Applied Catholic Theology and Component 3: Judaism.
There will be many opportunities for ‘student-centred’ learning involving independent research and the opportunity to develop informed viewpoints.
* You will learn about the teachings of the Catholic Church and be able to support this with biblical evidence
* You will develop the skill of evaluation through class discussion and focused written responses
* You will improve your analysis skills through learning to examine ethical issues in detail
* You will need to analyse and critique arguments studied in order to assess the validity of an argument
The course is externally assessed at the end of Year 11 with three written exams (Component 1: 1 hour and 30 minutes, Component 2: 1 hour and 30 minutes, Component 3: 1 hour).
During each of the modules pupils will complete mini-assessments to keep track of progress towards their GCSE as well as completing a mock exam in year academic year. The faculty have purposely set the grade boundaries on the higher side – this is a journey that pupils are taking and the standards of the required skills for each question are very high and as such it is important that pupils focus on the areas that their teachers are asking them to work at on in order to access the higher grades over their 3 year journey.
GCSE One Note Link
The following is a link to a resource of the work covered in Years 9, 10 and 11 in Religious Studies (please note the link is also found on the school website). It is sectioned into the 3 components and then sub-sectioned into the topics covered within the components – all are colour coded to accompany the colour coded source packs and assessments within pupils’ books and the Eduqas Revision Guide. The OneNote is designed to be used by pupils to consolidate their learning and has used pupil feedback to improve it for revision purposes too. There are many links to videos covered in lessons, websites to further develop pupils’ learning and consolidation sections that look at revision of topics, past examination questions and link to the examination board.
Years 9, 10 and 11 Independent Homework Menus
The faculty has brought back independent homework menus to enable pupils in GCSE years to become more resilient and take a lead role in their preferred learning methods and focus on areas that they need to develop in preparation for assessments and GCSEs.
Pupils will be sent a homework menu for the component that they are studying and their class teachers will be keeping track on the tasks that pupils have chosen to complete from the homework menus.
The menus are laid out as Starter, Main, Sides, Dessert, and Drinks – pupils need to choose one task from each of these sections over the course of covering the component – each of the tasks on the menu are designed to either consolidate learning, practice exam style skills or to develop further knowledge of an area that they are studying. Further guidance will be given by their class teacher during their course.
Films to Aid Learning
During the course we will be looking at a variety of moral issues and may at times use clips from YouTube or a film to enable pupils to consolidate learning; one of these is Dead Man Walking which is a 15 certificate that we are due to watch in Year 10. Please click here to see the Consent Letter – if you do not want your child to watch this, please email your child’s teacher directly. Alternative work can be provided for them.
KS5
AS and A2 classes receive five hours of curriculum time per week with an additional one hour per week intended for independent study and research. We follow the OCR specification ‘Religious Studies’ and study the following modules:
Modules:
Philosophy and Religion
Religion and Ethics
Developments of Christian Thought
The course develops a students’ interest and enthusiasm for religion and its relation to the wider world. It is an academic discipline developing knowledge, understanding and evaluation skills which enable the student to reflect on and develop their own values, opinions and attitudes. The areas of study include arguments about the existence of God, the problem of evil, ways of moral decision making, religious teaching on the nature and value of human life, abortion and euthanasia.
The course is assessed at the end of Year 13 with three written exams – each lasting 2 hours and in which students will complete 3 essays per examination.
A Level Philosophy One Note Link
The following is the One Note link for pupils in Years 12 and 13 who are studying Philosophy for A-Level. It is sectioned into the topics of the syllabus and then sub-sectioned. It contains links to other websites, videos and other tools to consolidate what is covered in lessons. It is still being developed and as such pupil voice is taken at various stages in the Year from students to improve this tool.
Exam Boards
Eduqas
OCR
Useful Websites and Sources of Support:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/