“Glory be to him, whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory be to him, from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen”
Ephesians 3: 20-21
Religious Education is the “core of the core curriculum” in a Catholic school and it is helping St Augustine’s to fulfil its mission to educate the whole person in discerning the meaning of their existence.
Dear young people do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things! (Pope Francis)
The outcome of excellent religious education is religiously literate and consciously engaged young people who have the knowledge, understanding, and skills – appropriate to their age and capacity – to reflect spiritually, and think ethically and theologically, and who recognise the demands of religious commitment in everyday life.
Key Stage 3 Religious Education
The aims of religious education are:
- to engage in a systematic study of the mystery of God, of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Church, the central beliefs that Catholics hold, the basis for them and the relationship between faith and life;
- to enable pupils continually to deepen their religious and theological understanding and be able to communicate this effectively;
- to present an authentic vision of the Church’s moral and social teaching to provide pupils with a sure guide for living and the tools to critically engage with contemporary culture and society;
- to give pupils an understanding of the religions and worldviews present in the world today and the skills to engage in respectful and fruitful dialogue with those whose worldviews differ from their own;
- to develop the critical faculties of pupils so to bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture;
- to stimulate pupils’ imagination and provoke a desire for personal meaning as revealed in the truth of the Catholic faith;
- to enable pupils to relate the knowledge gained through religious education to their understanding of other subjects in the curriculum.
The programme of study for religious education has a framework with four structural elements: knowledge lenses, ways of knowing, expected outcomes, curriculum branches.
Knowledge lenses set out the object of study for pupils; they indicate what should be known by the end of each age-phase. They are referred to as lenses, since they are the things we are looking at and they divide the content of the programme of study into four systematic subsections for the study of Catholicism and two additional lenses for the study of religions and worldviews, which together comprise the six knowledge lenses of hear, believe, celebrate, and live (the study of the Catholic religion), dialogue, and encounter (the study of other religions and worldviews).
Ways of knowing set out the skills that pupils should be developing as they progress through their curriculum journey. Whenever we know something, we always know it in more than one way: we remember it, we critically assimilate it, and we put it into practice. All three are ways of coming to know the things that are the object of our study. The ways of knowing are an evolution of the Age-related Standards in Religious Education, which were themselves an evolution of the Levels of Attainment in Religious Education. The three ways of knowing are: understand, discern, and respond. They are represented in the programme of study by icons: head (understand), heart (discern), and hands (respond).
Expected outcomes are a synthesis of the content outlined in the knowledge lenses and the skills described in the ways of knowing. Each age-phase will have a prescribed set of outcomes that will indicate what pupils are expected to know, remember, and be able to do, using the language of the ways of knowing and applying it to the discrete knowledge within each lens.
Curriculum branches are the way this programme of study presents its model curriculum. The model curriculum presents the expected outcomes in six curriculum branches that correspond to the six half-terms of a school year. The model curriculum is rooted in the narrative of salvation history and leads pupils on a journey in each year of schooling that gives a sequence to the learning. As they revisit each branch in each year of school they come to a deeper understanding of its significance for Catholic belief and practice, which allows them to make links between the four knowledge lenses within the context of the narrative of salvation history. The six curriculum branches are: creation and covenant, prophecy and promise, Galilee.
GCSE Religious Education
All students will study the Eduqas GCSE specification B.
The aims of GCSE Religious Education:
- develops learners’ knowledge and understanding of religions and non-religious beliefs, such as atheism and humanism
- develops learners’ knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, practices, and sources of wisdom and authority, including through their reading of key religious texts, other texts, and scriptures of the religions they are studying
- develops learners’ ability to construct well-argued, well-informed, balanced and structured written arguments, demonstrating their depth and breadth of understanding of the subject
- provides opportunities for learners to engage with questions of belief, value, meaning, purpose, truth, and their influence on human life
- challenges learners to reflect on and develop their own values, beliefs and attitudes in the light of what they have learnt and contributes to their preparation for adult life in a pluralistic society and global community.
Following this specification will enable learners to:
- deepen their understanding of the relationship between people
- become informed about common and divergent views within traditions in the way beliefs and teachings are understood and expressed
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the fact that religious traditions of Great Britain are, in the main, Christian
- understand that religious traditions in Great Britain are diverse and include the following religions: Catholic Christianity and Judaism, as well as non-religious beliefs, such as atheism and humanism.
The course consists of 3 components: Foundational Catholic Theology (Origins and Meaning + Good and Evil), Applied Catholic Theology (Life and Death + Sin and Forgiveness) and Study of Judaism (Beliefs and Teachings + Practices)
Foundational Catholic Theology
Written examination: 1½ hours 37.5% of qualification 90 marks (plus 6 for spelling, punctuation and grammar)
For this component learners will study two themes: Theme 1: Origins and Meaning Theme 2: Good and Evil Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the influence of religion on individuals, communities and societies. They will be expected to support their responses using appropriate knowledge and understanding of key sources of wisdom and sacred texts. These texts might include, for example: the Bible; extracts from the documents of Vatican II or other ecumenical councils, extracts from Papal encyclicals and exhortations, extracts from the work of key theologians and thinkers such as St Augustine of Hippo as well as the views of past and current philosophers (including ethical philosophers). Learners must be aware how varied interpretations of sources and/or teachings may give rise to diversity within traditions or textual studies on religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of different perspectives. These may derive from either different religions or different views/denominations within a particular religion. Each theme contains eight concepts which learners should be able to explain and apply in relation to the areas studied.
Applied Catholic Theology
Written examination: 1½ hours 37.5% of qualification 90 marks (plus 6 for spelling, punctuation and grammar)
For this component learners will study two themes: Theme 3: Life and Death Theme 4: Sin and Forgiveness Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the influence of religion on individuals, communities and societies. They will be expected to support their responses using appropriate knowledge and understanding of key sources of wisdom and sacred texts. These texts might include, for example: the Bible; extracts from the documents of Vatican II or other ecumenical councils, extracts from Papal encyclicals and exhortations, extracts from the work of key theologians and thinkers such as St Augustine of Hippo as well as the views of past and current philosophers (including ethical philosophers). Learners must be aware how varied interpretations of sources and/or teachings may give rise to diversity within traditions or textual studies on religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of different perspectives. These may derive from either different religions or different views/denominations within a particular religion. Each theme contains eight concepts which learners should be able to explain and apply in relation to the areas studied.
Study of a World Faith: Judaism
Written examination: 1 hour 25% of qualification 60 marks
Learners should be aware that Judaism is one of a diverse range of religious and nonreligious traditions and beliefs in Great Britain today that includes Christianity; Buddhism; Hinduism; Islam; Sikhism; Humanism and Atheism, but that the main religious tradition in Great Britain is Christian. This knowledge may be applied throughout the assessment of the specified content Learners must know, understand and express common and divergent views and the basis for beliefs, teachings and practices. References to relevant sources of wisdom and authority are expected, including scripture and/or sacred texts.