Religious Education aims at providing students with the opportunity to explore and develop their personal beliefs and values and to acquire the ability to listen to, and try to understand, people who hold different beliefs. To these ends the following is studied:

Year 7

The idea of belief forms the central core of the Year 7 course. Students are encouraged to think about their own beliefs about the world in which they live, to share their beliefs with other students and to listen to students who may have different beliefs to their own. Students then go on to learn how beliefs can be represented in symbolic form, how beliefs concerning creation vary from culture to culture and how some people believe that they have had religious experiences. The year ends by looking at the idea of celebration and how celebrations reflect our beliefs.

Year 8

Students are asked to find out about religions which are represented both locally and nationally. The focus of the year will be on learning about Judaism, Christianity and Islam: other faiths in the community will be acknowledged. Acquiring knowledge about these religions will be emphasised, but at all times there will be the opportunity for students to reflect upon their learning and to evaluate the ideas from a personal perspective.

Year 9

Term one begins with a study of Hinduism. Students will then focus on Rite of Passage: the way in which events such as birth, coming of age and death are celebrated. Students will be encouraged to draw upon their knowledge and understanding of religion and to evaluate their learning with the aim of allowing them to develop their personal beliefs and values. In the third term students focus on the relationship between religion and moral issues. This will form the basis of their studies at Key Stage 4 when all students take a GCSE short course in R.E. which focuses on moral issues from Christian and Muslim perspectives.
General

Of primary importance to the department is the belief that all students should be provided with an environment in which they can flourish. For this reason particular attention is made to providing resources which match the needs and abilities of the students. Progress is monitored through regular teacher assessment and also by student self-assessment.