RE

Students will learn about and question the role and significance of religion in the world today. The Y7 curriculum initially focuses on how and why people practice religion within their lives before questioning a range of key religious, philosophical and contemporary issues in the world today in Y8. The intention of the RE Curriculum at KS3 is to give students the skills to explain, apply scripture, consider its influence and evaluate a range of views. In KS3 we study all of the six world religions with a focus and greater depth given to the study and understanding of Christianity and Islam. Students consider belief from a both a religious and non religious viewpoint and we intend that they are able to consider a range of differing and contrasting views, starting to to question and understand their own views and beliefs in the world today. The overarching intention for KS3 RE is that the students engage meaningfully with some of humanity’s key questions and themes and leave their KS3 experience with a very broad and balanced understanding of their role and views in society. The RE ‘Big Ideas’ Curriculum, (Barbara Wintersgill, 2019) and key ‘big ideas’ have helped shape and refine what the RE curriculum at Conyers examines as key focus points, and each of the units of work, both for the mainstream and enhanced mainstream provision, have one or more of the big ideas threading through.

Year 7

• (U1) Develop an understanding of what belief is and how it is different for different people. Explain why some people believe and others do not, understanding key terms such as theism, atheism, agnosticism. Investigate the key beliefs of the six main world religions.
• (U2) This unit allows students to start to explain how life with belief influences how people live and how they practice their belief. Key knowledge of worship, festivals and pilgrimage with focus on Christianity, Islam and Hindusim. This unit allows students to compare religions and the idea of the sacred and the secular.   
• (U3) The final unit allows students to apply knowledge of belief and start to interpret scripture in order to explain how religion inspires.

Year 8

Debating skills are developed within each of the units through the trial of ‘The Big Debate’ which is built into all units and allows students to start to develop written evaluation skills.
The 6 units across Y8 aim to build core knowledge around the 6 key enquiries outlined below. Students examine the arguments about the existence of God, the problem of evil and the relationship between religion and science. Students go on to examine ‘community’ within modern Britain in depth and students consider the notion of community cohesion through looking at life as a multi faith and multi ethinic society whilst also considering how Christians, Muslims and Sikhs promote and contribute to society. Students will build upon Y7 work and and continue to develop analysis and evaluation skills through questioning the key enquiry questions in each unit.

Year 7

The three units are taught in this sequence so that students, who have a VERY mixed experience of RE from their KS2 feeder schools (10+ settings) first all get a base knowledge about the key religious beliefs and systems before then moving into a deeper exploration of why and how these beliefs, bot religious and secular, influence the lives of people today. The third unit delves even deeper, examining how belief can inspire in different ways, including a key guest speaker in school – The Seeds of Change.

Year 8

The first three units of work build directly upon the core content and knowledge from Y7 and within Y8 students begin to grapple with some of the core themes and arguments within the study of religions and philosophy. Key arguments about the existence of God are followed by a unit looking into the problem of evil, both requiring students to closely analyse a variety of contrasting views and interpretations. Term 2 builds on the skills and key from Term 1 and further examines the key questions raised in terms of whether science and religion are compatible and to what extent. The final three units focus on honing the evaluation skills built up in HT1, 2 & 3 and examine contemporary issues.

Half Term 1

Unit 1 – What and why do people believe?

Half Term 2

Unit 1 – What and why do people believe?

Half Term 3

Unit 2 – What is life with faith?

Half Term 4

Unit 2 – What is life with faith?

Half Term 5

Unit 3 – How does belief inspire people?

Half Term 6

Unit 3 – How does belief inspire people?

Half Term 1

Enquiry 1: Does God Exist?

Half Term 2

Enquiry 2: Why do we suffer?

Half Term 3

Enquiry 3: Religion & Science: Friend or Foe?

Half Term 4

Enquiry 4: Can we sustain it? Environment and Stewardship

Half Term 5

Enquiry 5: What is modern Britain?

Half Term 6

Enquiry 6: Why do we need Human Rights?