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Religion and Philosophy
BackReligion and Philosophy sits within Humanities at Wayland
To engender a love of learning about the world- past and present. Through a relentless approach to learning, staff will give students the tools to achieve their academic potential, to develop informed views and have the courage, conviction and knowledge to stand up for what they believe in to make society a better place.
Our curriculum is designed to support pupils’ religious literacy; being religiously literate means that pupils will have the ability to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and worldviews. Pupils will be nurtured to become free-thinking, critical participants of public discourse, who can make academically informed judgements about important matters of religion and belief that shape the global landscape.
The syllabus delivered acknowledges the importance of religious and non-religious worldviews in all human life.
- Theology enables pupils to grapple with questions that have been raised by religions and worldviews over the centuries.
- Philosophy enables pupils to grapple with questions that have been raised and answers about knowledge, existence and morality.
- The human/social sciences enable pupils to grapple with questions about the lived and diverse reality of religion and worldviews.
- History enables pupils to explore how religious beliefs and practices have changed over time in response to historical events and developments in thought.
COURSE STRUCTURE
All students, irrespective of year group will begin their philosophical and religious education by discussing and examining Ancient Greek Philosophy to consider questions about wisdom and reality. Within this unit, students learn that the Ancient Greeks were polytheists, and they then move on to study the theological approaches to wisdom, reality and society.
This structure is followed throughout the years and key stages, with students building on their understanding of philosophy at the beginning of the year, before studying theology and religion later in the year.
Throughout the curriculum, the teaching of religious education follows a social sciences approach and introduces the students to the claim that religion is a social construct. Throughout the curriculum, stories are used to interweave philosophical and religious constructs.
EXAM BOARD
As we continue to build up the knowledge and understanding of students throughout KS3, we plan to be in a position to introduce a GCSE in the future.
ASSESSMENT
Formative assessment is used to capture what students do and do not know, allowing teachers to give the feedback needed for students to learn from their mistakes and make progress.
Formative assessment takes place in class through activities such as knowledge retrieval tasks, quizzing, targeted questioning, debate and extended writing opportunities.
At KS3 students complete a summative assessment every term, assessing the expanding domain of the curriculum.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUTURE STUDY
Religion and Philosophy are an integral part of the study of social sciences, and they support subjects such as history, geography, humanities and life.
The subject adds cultural capital to students’ ethos and outlook, both through an understanding of other people's viewpoints and also in terms of history and the development of theological approaches over time. In almost any future career the skills acquired will promote a student’s ability to communicate and work with others.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES SUPPORTED BY THIS SUBJECT
Career opportunities include: Teacher, Human resources, Journalist, Politician, Police officer, Social researcher and Marketing executive.
