RPE (RELIGON, PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS)

Teaching Staff

  • Mr David - Head of RPE
  • Mrs Lincoln

Aims

It is our intent for the RPE element of our school curriculum to engage, inspire, challenge and encourage students, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions.  

In line with the current Essex Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, RPE will be delivered in school to meet the agreed syllabus aims by enabling young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. Our KS3 Curriculum encourages pupils to develop positive attitudes to their learning and to the beliefs and values of others. The following four attitudes are essential elements of our KS3 curriculum:

  • self-awareness;
  • respect for all;
  • open-mindedness;
  • appreciation and wonder

The intent of RPE is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and will maximise the outcomes for every student so that they know more, remember more and understand more. As a result of this, they will become independent and responsible members of a society who understand and explore big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that they can make sense of religion, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.

We provide our students with opportunities for them to learn about and from religions and worldviews in local, national and global contexts, to discover, explore and consider different answers to these questions. They will be equipped with systematic knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and worldviews, enabling them to develop their ideas, values and identities. Our students are encouraged to develop an aptitude for dialogue so that they can participate positively in our society, with its diverse religions and worldviews.

KS3

Our students live in a very different world to that of 1944 when the Education Act enshrined in law a duty for all schools to teach Religious Education (RE). In preparing for adult life, they need to learn to respond well to a local, national and global landscape of religion and belief diversity. In the context of today’s world, we are advocating that our RPE curriculum should help students to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religion and belief, i.e., be religiously literate.

Students will access a high-quality curriculum that engenders an interest in exploring, improving understanding of and showing respect for different faiths and cultural diversity. This will enable them to develop a knowledge and acceptance of religions and worldviews, with the skill to “disagree agreeably”.  Our Curriculum is academically rigorous and examines theology, philosophy and social science within a historical context.

The RPE curriculum provides a sound foundation of world views and religious beliefs that create a tolerance and understanding of others. It provides opportunities for students to consider the place and importance of religion in their local and global community and in particular religion in the workplace.

RPE broadens students’ knowledge and understanding of the world and provides a platform for students to enquire about world views and develop personal and informed opinions and beliefs about religious, philosophical and ethical issues.

KS4

In our KS4 Curriculum students will study religious teachings and religious, philosophical and ethical arguments relating to contemporary issues, and their impact and influence in the modern world. Students consider different beliefs and attitudes to religious and non-religious issues in contemporary British society. They are made aware that the religious traditions of Great Britain are, in the main, Christian, and that religious traditions in Great Britain are diverse.

Students will be made aware of contrasting perspectives in contemporary British society including non-religious views and where appropriate, legal implications. This content and approach prepares students for the AQA GCSE papers that all students will take at the end of Year 11. 

Our KS4 curriculum also provides opportunities to go beyond the exam board specification through the discussions and lessons topics.

All students follow AQA Religious Studies Spec A. The course is examined in two papers:

  • The study of beliefs, teachings and practices in Christianity and Islam
  • Thematic studies: Relationships and families; Religion and life; Religion crime and punishment; Religion peace and conflict. 
  • Qualifications: GCSE Religious Education

Please see below the Curriculum Maps for a breakdown of what is taught in each year group and by term: