Religious Studies
Introduction
Students at Halliford school have an opportunity to study Religious Studies, Philosophy and Ethics from Year 7 to Year 13.
The department uses the Surrey SACRE (Standing Advisory Council of Religious Education) to inform its schemes of work and to provide all students at Halliford School with a diverse and enriching Religious Studies curriculum.
Years 7-9
In Year 7, 8 and 9, Religious Studies is a compulsory curriculum subject and students explore Old Testament Studies, New Testament Studies, St Mark’s Gospel as well as World Religions such as Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism.
Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have one timetabled lesson per week and in this time, they will learn the subject skills of ‘learning about’ (A01 skills) and ‘learning from’ (A02 skills) religions. These skills are then harnessed and embedded further if they choose to study ‘Religions Studies, Philosophy and Ethics’ at GCSE and/or A Level.
GCSE
Religious Studies at Key Stage 4 continues to grow in popularity as boys’ grapple with the bigger, philosophical questions such as sanctity of life, the right to life, the right to death, Just War, Creation vs Evolution as well as more fundamentally personal belief questions such as: What gives someone faith? Should my beliefs ever change? Am I responsible for my actions?
Students explore these questions, alongside many others, from not only their ideas but also from differing religious viewpoints. At Halliford, we focus on two World Religions at GCSE level: Christianity and Islam.
A Level
Religious Studies at Key Stage 5 is a thriving subject. The course builds on the successes at GCSE and allows pupils to study three discrete elements:
- Philosophy
- Religion and Ethics
- Christianity
The course allows students to explore the thoughts of philosophers from the ancient world; Socrates, Plato, Aristotle as well as modern philosophical thinkers such as Joseph Fletcher, Peter Vardy, Mary Daly to name but a few.
The content at Key Stage 5 follows that of the OCR examining board and includes Ancient Philosophy, Arguments based on observation and reason, Religious Experience and the Problem of Evil. Alongside this, students are expected to study Ethical concepts such as Natural Moral Law, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, and Situation Ethics.
The Department is not affiliated with any one religion and all pupils have a voice whether they regard themselves as atheist, theist or agnostic. Debate, discussion, and questioning are encouraged in each lesson and students learn from one another and their experiences.
