“If you wish to untie a knot, you must first know how it was tied.”
Surangama Sutra
Religious Education at Sandymoor provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human to allow our pupils to find their place in the world. It develops students’ skills and knowledge of Christianity, principal religions and other worldviews that offer answers to these big questions. They learn to weigh up the value of wisdom from different communities, to disagree respectfully, to be reasonable in their responses to religions and worldviews and to respond by expressing insights about their own and others’ lives.
Key Stage 3
RE in Years 7-9 ignites the spark of learning about faith and worldviews. Students start Key Stage 3 by focusing on key thinkers who have heavily influenced religious thought in the discipline of philosophy and end it by knowing how religion and worldviews have influenced the lives of millions of people and contributed to the development of different human cultures.
We take a multi-disciplinary approach to allow students to develop substantive knowledge (knowledge about various religious and non-religious traditions), ways of knowing (students learning ‘how to know’ about religion and non-religion) and personal knowledge (students building an awareness of their own values about the religious and non-religious traditions they study.)
Key Stage 4
In years 10 and 11, students build on their Key Stage 3 journey and follow a Core RE programme that includes big questions on the value of human life, beginning of life issues, end of life issues and the concept of the after-life – and some Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Humanist responses to these. Option students follow AQA GCSE Religious Studies spec A, Christianity and Islam. Parents and guardians should book a meeting with the academy if they wish to discuss the right to withdraw from RE lessons.
British Values, SMSC and Cultural Capital
Through RE, pupils will explore the:
• Diversity of religions found in our local, regional and national communities
• Best ways to express their own ideas, opinions and beliefs about religious, spiritual and moral questions
• Significance of religious and humanist beliefs in modern Britain
• Ways in which religious communities are distinctive – even within the same faith
• Common ground and shared action that religious communities sometimes achieve in making a contribution to society for the well-being of all
• Impact of beliefs upon action and upon daily life • Tensions and disagreements between different communities, and the ways of resolving these tensions that promote fairness and equality of opportunity
• Teachings of each religion and worldview about respect for all and common humanity.
The modern world needs young people who are confident in their own beliefs and values that they can respect the religious and cultural differences of others and contribute to a cohesive and compassionate society.