In the Religious Education Department we strive to open the minds of our students to the richness and energy of faith in Jesus Christ. These classes are dynamic and encourage students to study, debate, analyse and research Catholic teaching.

 

In KS3 (Years 7-9)

The students study all areas of Catholic Teaching including scripture texts such as Abraham, Moses and the prophets, as well as Jesus’ revelation in the New Testament. We teach about the importance of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, Sacraments, prayer, care for the poor, and respect for other cultures and traditions. Our studies include Hinduism in Year 7, Judaism in Year 8 and Islam in year 9.

In KS4 (Years 10-11)

St Mark’s Gospel GCSE

With their advanced knowledge, and after developing the ability to undertake research and analysis, allYear 10 students go on to study, in detail, Scripture from St Mark’s Gospel. Students take 50% of the GCSE this year.

Academic achievement in these studies is excellent.

 Year 11

 

In Year 11 students undertake the other 50% of the GCSE and in this section students study ‘Catholic Christianity’ . This study covers: Belief in God, Matters of Life and Death, Marriage and Family Life, Social Harmony, and Wealth and Poverty. This gives the students the ability to analyse, reflect and debate comtemporary moral, and life, issues in the light of Catholic teaching.

 

In KS5 (Years 12-13)

Students who choose to study Ethics, and Fourth Gospel modules achieve very good results.

Theology and Religious Studies, are specifically listed among important course requirements for top universities. ( See Cambridge University course requirements)

This area of study continues the development of thinking and debating skills.

In the ethics module students study the philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato and Aquinas. This course is at a high academic level and challenges students to think ‘outside the box’. They explore ethical theories which have a deontological or teleological basis. This is a very interesting area of study which lends itself to many other subject areas. Some of these areas are Medicine, Business Studies, English studies, History, Politics and many others. Ethical training is valued also in the army and police force. Part of the Ethics syllabus is linked to the New Testament. This is useful in developing an understanding of how Christian philosophers developed their theories from Christ’s words and actions.

The Fourth Gospel module delves deeper into an understanding of Scripture. This is a deeply theological book of the New Testament and academic study involves looking at the texts and researching scholarly thought.