Religious Education
The Religious Education department aims to help our students become the best that they can be, and we believe our excellent exam results, as well as the skills we teach them, will help them achieve their ambitions in further education and eventually their careers. We also believe we equip our students for life, preparing them to make good decisions in their personal lives and contribute fully to their community as citizens.
Our consistently year on year outstanding exam results at GCSE and A level evidence our Commitment to high standards (one of the Christleton 5Cs). We also make a particularly strong contribution to the ‘Caring’ 5C, by helping students to develop tolerance for each other and all people, their beliefs, identities and lifestyles. We help our students to reflect on their own beliefs in the light of their study and to develop their own moral compass. We enable students to develop respect, as well as knowledge and understanding of world faiths through ‘encountering’ religions. Students are assisted in developing the ability to make reasoned and informed judgements about religious, social and moral issues.
The RE curriculum is ambitious and designed to give all students the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
Thus, our curriculum includes Philosophy from year 9 upwards, which introduces students to the best that has been thought and said by the great philosophers and helping to engender an appreciation for the achievement of great moral examples, such as Martin Luther King. We broadly follow the Cheshire Agreed Syllabus and pupils ‘Encounter’ and ‘Respond’ to religion. We have included the knowledge and skills students need in order to take advantage of opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life, through our focus on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Learners engage in an open and sensitive exploration of religion in a caring and supportive environment.
Religious Education is taught in a self-contained suite of 4 classrooms, one being a sixth form seminar room. Each classroom has an interactive whiteboard and the classroom doors are ‘themed’ for different religions. There is a display cupboard with artefacts from the different religions that we study.
Key Stage 3 Religious Education
In Year 7 students are introduced briefly to all the religions that they will study at Christleton and then they investigate in depth the History of Judaism and Judaism today, followed by the religions of Hinduism and Sikhism.
In Year 8 students focus on the life of Jesus.
Year 9 students start with Ethics: Prejudice and Discrimination, with a focus on sexism and later in the year racism. Students complete a unit on Philosophy: investigating philosophers who have argued for and against the existence of God. Lastly students complete a unit on Religion: the beliefs and teachings of Islam.
Further detail can be found in our 'curriculum map.'
Key Stage 3 students may be able to enjoy trips to a variety of places of worship for example a synagogue, cathedral, gurdwara and mosque.
Key Stage 4 Core Religious Education
All students in Key Stage 4 study Core Religious Education, focusing on social and moral issues primarily from the viewpoint of Christianity and Islam. They also consider humanist and atheist views, as well as the relationship between science and religion.
Further detail can be found in our 'curriculum map.'
Key Stage 4 GCSE Religious Studies
Religious Studies GCSE is a popular option at GCSE at Christleton. Typically, there are 2 option groups at GCSE in each year group.
The GCSE course is the AQA Specification A, with the beliefs, teachings and practices of Christianity and Islam studied in Component 1 and Religious and Ethical Studies covered in Component 2.
AQA Religious Studies A
This is a GCSE course which focuses on issues, beliefs and life today. As such, it is a course with relevance to a wide variety of careers, such as Law, Medicine and Journalism.
The course aims to promote an enquiring, critical and sympathetic approach to the study of religion and its responses to moral issues. It is suitable for candidates who have any religious faith, or for those who have none. For both sections of the course, students will study the religions of Christianity and Islam.
There are two sections to the course:
Religion and Ethics
- Religion and life e.g. should euthanasia be made legal? Are animal experiments and abortion morally wrong?
- Religion, peace and conflict e.g. terrorism and religious attitudes to nuclear weapons
- Religion, crime and punishment e.g. should the death penalty be reintroduced?
- Relationships and families e.g. religious attitudes towards heterosexual and homosexual relationships
Religious Beliefs, Teachings and Practices
- Key Beliefs e.g. is there life after death and will we be judged when we die?
- Key Teachings e.g. what is the consequence of sin?
- Key Practices e.g. the response of religion to poverty through organisations such as Tearfund
Candidates will develop knowledge and understanding of these topics. They will be able to express their own opinion as well as investigating Christian views and the views of Islam.
SKILLS: Students will develop
- Knowledge and Understanding Skills
- Evaluation Skills - the ability to present a reasoned argument
ASSESSMENT: 2 written papers of 1 hour 45 minutes
Why study Religious Studies?
Religious Studies helps you develop the skills that many employers are looking for, as well as being an academic subject, which is accepted by universities, whatever you may go on to study.
Will I enjoy this course?
Yes, if you enjoy discussion, activities using the interactive whiteboard, videos, projects etc. The course usually involves visiting speakers, such as Billy McCurrie or a representative from Claire House Children’s Hospice. The best way to find out is to ask your teacher, or people you know who are studying GCSE Religious Studies.
GCSE and A level RS are accepted by the prestigious Russell Group of Universities, as equally suitable preparation for a university course, as the EBacc subjects.
Downloads
| Title | |
| Curriculum Map | Download |
| Curriculum Overview | Download |
| Religious Education KS3 Year 7 Assessment Grid | Download |
| Religious Education KS3 Year 8 Assessment Grid | Download |
Useful Links
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| AQA Specification A Religious Studies GCSE, first examined in 2018 |  Visit website |