Welcome to the Religious Studies Department

Welcome to our Religious Studies department. Our courses address different religious and non-religious responses to ethical issues.

The aim of this subject is to enable students to relate to people of different beliefs so that they can better understand a diversity of attitudes and lifestyles. From these studies, students are encouraged to reflect on their own understanding, beliefs and opinions.

Departmental Courses

  • GCSE Religious Studies  (AQA)
  • GCE Religious Studies  (AQA)

Who do I contact for more information?

Mr D Attrill (d.attrill@poolehigh.poole.sch.uk)

Year 7 and 8 students study Beliefs & Values, focusing on the big questions of life and how students can respond to them. Students receive two one-hour lessons per fortnight for this.

Units of work include the following themes:

  • Journeys (including the study of Buddhism),
  • Leadership (a study of Christianity),
  • Existence of God (a study of a number of beliefs, including atheist/Humanist)
  • Religion and our life.
  • Different Christian perspectives on family. 

Students are encouraged to self-evaluate and to assess each other’s work on an on-going basis. At the end of each unit, all students in the year group are formally assessed either through project work, oral work or extended writing; the teacher marks this work following National Curriculum levels.

GCSE Religious Studies

Religious Studies forms part of the core curriculum studied at GCSE. It offers students the opportunity to learn about the beliefs and practices of two religions; Christianity and Islam.

Alongside studying these two religions, the GCSE also looks more broadly at ethical issues such as crime and punishment, war, social justice and the role of the family. The full GCSE is taken by all students at the end of Year 10.

The course is split into three different units; Philosophy, Ethics, Developments in Christian Thought.

Year 12

Philosophy

Ethics

DCT

Ancient Greek influences

Soul, Mind & Body

Cosmological Argument

Teleological Argument

Ontological Argument

Problem of Evil

Religious Experience

 

Natural Law

Situation Ethics

Kantian Ethics

Utilitarianism

Business Ethics

Euthanasia

Human Nature

Death and the Afterlife

Knowledge of God’s Existence

Jesus Christ

Christian Moral Principles

Christian  Moral Action

Year 13

Philosophy

Ethics

DCT

The Nature of God

Religious Language

 

Meta Ethics

Conscience

Sexual Ethics

Pluralism

Gender

Secularism

Liberation Theology

Assessment

There are three exams, each 2 hours long.  In each exam, you will be expected to write 3 essays.

Religious Studies is a very highly thought of subject that fits equally well with the arts and the sciences because of its logical nature.  At University, one of the most prestigious degrees is Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).  Students often study go onto study Philosophy and Ethics, Philosophy & Maths, Theology or Anthropology.   UCAS suggest that RS is useful for law, counselling and social services, marketing, sales and advertising, catering and hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism, retail and customer services, education and training, medicine and nursing and service sector roles.