Philosophy and Vision
RE enables pupils to learn about the world in which we live. RE is not a subject designed to make people religious but rather to allow students to think for themselves about religious, moral, social, philosophical and ethical issues.
RE develops pupils’ understanding of the beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression of Christianity and of other world religions such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. RE also provides students with opportunities for their own spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. RE at Wellfield promotes respect and tolerance for different people’s faiths, feelings and values.
RE is timetabled for one lesson per week. By law all pupils must study RE. RE lessons at Wellfield Community School are relevant to pupils’ own lives, engaging, and allow students to develop skills of analysis, investigation, interpretation and evaluation.
Curriculum overview
RE should be valued at Wellfield because:
- It promotes awareness and understanding of different beliefs and the nature of society
- It encourages the development of crucial skills as well as building on literacy and numeracy
- RE gives pupils a unique opportunity to consider issues and views for themselves and form their own opinions and explain them in a safe environment
- RE tackles some of the big questions of life
- It promotes understanding of different cultures and traditions which helps to remove prejudice
- RE helps to prepare students for, and to contribute positively to, life in modern Britain.
KS4 Curriculum (Y9-11) – links to GCSE specifications
At KS4 students have the option to continue to study Core Religious Education, or to undertake GCSE Religious Studies (RS).
Students who opt for GCSE RS follow the AQA Specification A (9-1) GCSE. This consists of two externally examined papers:
Paper 1: Study of Religions (Beliefs and practices of Christianity and Islam)
Paper 2: Themes
Core Religious Education at KS4 is a non-exam based course which is designed to build students’ religious literacy. Students do this through developing their knowledge and understanding about religious and non-religious worldviews. Students also develop critical thinking through the skills of analysis and evaluation in relation to questions raised by their learning in RE.
Core RE gives opportunities for students to reflect on their own experiences, feelings, beliefs, values and ideas in response to the material covered. This opportunity for personal reflection can be developed and deepened but is not part of the assessment expectations. Students engage with different topics and themes which are based on different types of enquiry question.
KS3 Curriculum (Y7-8)
At KS3, key areas studied include:
What are the key beliefs of Christians?
What does it mean to be a Muslim?
Is religion good for society?
How is religion in Britain changing?
Is happiness the purpose of life?
Assessment
RE at Wellfield follows the Durham Locally Agreed Syllabus. Students are formally assessed throughout the academic year. Formal assessment is based on two key objectives:
A01: Knowledge and understanding
A02: Critical thinking
Personal reflection is a vital part of RE and, whilst guidance is given on ways to develop this, it is not formally assessed.
