KS3

At KS3 we follow the Wiltshire Syllabus for Religious Education. In this context we study Christianity as our major focus but cover also the religions of Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.

We have a creative approach to teaching which involves Art, Music and role-play. We study the environment in Year 7 and extend this study with a fun film entitled ‘The Gods must be crazy’ in which we examine the San people and their expert care of the environment. Students take part in group work and discussions and debates are an important part of our exploration of the syllabus.

GCSE

At this level we study Philosophy and Ethics.

We use the OCR exam board and study option 1931 B with coursework.       The Philosophical section is aimed at enabling students to explore the big questions of life and to learn how the four religions of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism view these questions.

In the section on Ethics we study current topics such as abortion, euthanasia, poverty and fair trade, religion and equality and war and justice. Students are encouraged to research these as widely as possible and much discussion and debate is undertaken in lessons.

Students are free to choose which religion they would like to focus on and encouraged to develop both their critical thinking and independent learning skills. An independent learning group presentation is undertaken before each coursework assignment in order to provide a broad basis for students to work from as preparation for the assignment. Expectations and achievement are high.

A LEVEL

At A Level we study the OCR Philosophy and Ethics course. This entails a Foundation course in both Philosophy and Ethics followed by Philosophy I and Ethics I. In the A2 year Philosophy II and Ethics II is studied together with a Synoptic Paper.

Students are encouraged to argue critically about the various topics in a structured and succinct manner. Much debate and discussion takes place during lessons and all students are challenged to aim as high as possible in the examination. Results to date have been very pleasing.

This highly academic subject is an excellent training for students wishing to pursue a career in law or medicine but also provides valuable life skills for all those undertaking the course.