Religious Education

Through the issues discussed in Religious Education lessons, students are given the opportunity to learn about people’s beliefs and values and consider how these affect our attitudes and behaviour towards others which is vital if we are to foster respect for a diversity of cultures.
Religious Education is not only about learning about the traditions and beliefs of different world faiths, it also looks at ethical and moral questions that we often find ourselves faced with.
Examples of topics covered:
KEY STAGE 3
The Main beliefs and traditions of three major world faiths Christianity, Hinduism and
Islam.
KEY STAGE 4 (GCSE RE)
The main beliefs and traditions of two major world faiths Christianity and Judaism and considering ways in which these affect the life of the believer.

KEY STAGE 5 / POST 16 (AS / ALEVEL)
An Introduction and Study of Sikhism
An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion
Religion and Human Experience (Issues of Life, Death and Life after Death)
The Religious Education Department has taken joint responsibility for the delivery of PSE at Key Stage 4 and has introduced a new compulsory course for Year 10 / 11 students, GCSE Citizenship Studies. This new course incorporates the statutory requirements of PSE alongside the compulsory short course R.E. curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to follow either the Short course Citizenship Studies or top up to the full GCSE. This is a new and exciting course which many students find extremely relevant and enjoyable. Topics studied include a brief introduction to government, politics and the voting system; Human Rights and how and why our rights are protected; Justice and Equality; Moral issues and What it means to be a UK Citizen today.

With Short Course R.E. no longer being offered as a compulsory examination, many students have opted to take up the study of GCSE R.E. and results over the past three years have been very good. Religious Education is both an interesting and enjoyable subject through which students are able to develop essential key skills which they will take with them into Higher Education or the workplace.
Religious Education is becoming more and more of a popular choice of study for many students and is often referred to as a desirable qualification in a wide range of job opportunities.

A qualification in R.E. can be useful in the following career paths:
*Public Sector Positions                                          *Teaching
*Nursing and the Medical Profession                      *The Police Force
*The Armed Forces                                                 *Social Work
*Law

Useful Websites

RE Site                          RE-XS (The RE User Site)        Christian Holidays
www.theresite.org.uk     www.re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk                www.holidays.net

The GCSE RE Revision Site                   The Christian Education Movement
www.paulhopkins.org.uk/revision              www.cem.org.uk

Hinduism                     Mandirs                            The Bhagavad Gita
www.hindu.org             www.hindunet.org              www.krsna.com/gita

Hinduism Today                                      The Quran
www.hinduismtoday.com                          www.islam.org/mosque/quran

The Islam Page            Jewish Gallery                 Jewish Resources
www.islam.org              www.jews.com                   www.ahavat-isreal.com

The Islamic Foundation                          A Huge Hadith
www.islamic-foundation.org    www.wings.buffalo.edu/sa/muslim/isl/hadith

World Wide Jewish Web           The Sikh Home Page       The Sikh Net
www.jewishweb.com                    www.sikhs.org              www.sikhnet.com

Sikh Temples
www.indiaov.org/tourism/temples/golden.htm

The Guru Granth Sahib                                                    Greenpeace
www.dgnc.sikhnet.org/ggs/english                           www.greenpeace.org

Muslim attitudes to Euthanasia                            Independent Thought
www.islamctr.org/icsc/earth.txt                       www.religioustolerance.org

Christian Aid                                           Oxfam
www.christianaid.org.uk                           www.oxfam.org.uk
Work In The Event of School Closure

KEY STAGE 3
Most students will have work to complete from previous lessons.
Those who do not have any outstanding work should make use of the useful websites information and research their current topic of study through the relevant website (there are activities to complete on many of these websites).
There are also key words recorded in student exercise books which need to be revised for half termly assessment.

KEY STAGE 4
Year 10 should use the websites recommended to read up on Jewish Festivals
including Simchat Torah, Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Pesach and Purim.
Key Words also need to be revised

Year 11should work on any outstanding homework activities.
There are also Key Word Glossaries that need to be revised.

Both Year Groups can also make use of the WJEC website and BBC Bitsize
website to complete past paper examination questions and revision tasks.

KEY STAGE 5 / POST 16
Years 12 and 13 have a list of units that should be read over in preparation for their summer examinations.

Subject leader: Miss Sarah Wheeler
Contact email: sarah.wheeler@tonypandycollege.co.uk