To see a world in a Grain of Sand,
And heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
By William Blake
Teaching in the department is thematically delivered, covering a range of major world religions including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, seekers and, Hinduism, and Buddhism; lessons focus on teachings within these religions on contemporary issues such as poverty, leadership, war, prejudice, relationships, religion and science, abortion and euthanasia.
Pupils’ build up an understanding of world religions throughout key stage three and the work progressively encourages pupils to work independently and arrive at informed opinions. Some topics are project based where pupils can research in depth using a variety of sources of information. Religious Studies is always taught as an open-minded exploration of the "big questions" rather than proselytising.
The GCSE course follows on from this and focuses on philosophy of religion and ethics. This is an optional course, though all pupils take part in religious studies discussion groups in years 10 and 11 where there is open debate and structured exploration.
But pupils wishing to further their study of philosophy and ethics in greater depth, these subjects are offered at A-level in the department; teaching groups are small and pupils receive individual attention.
At both GCSE and A’ level we use the AQA specification
