The KS3 RE curriculum is divided into both core and denominational religious education. 

Core Religious Education (RE)

The Core RE curriculum consists of three lessons of core RE a fortnight at KS3. By Year 9 students will have learnt about the fulfilment of God’s covenant through Jesus and will have studied the covenant, creation, the life and person of Jesus, the Paschal Mystery, the birth of the Church and how these relate to Christianity today. In addition to Christianity, the course also includes the study of the five major world faiths exploring the practices, worship, moral conduct and key beliefs about the divine, life after death and authority. Students will also have explored ultimate questions about the existence of God, the problem of evil, the relationship between religion and science as well as applying different ethical theories to modern, social moral issues. 

Denominational Religious Education (DRE)

DRE is particular to St Bede’s. Once a fortnight students are taught in three denominational groups; Anglican, Roman Catholic and Free Church. The DRE curriculum explores the differences in Christian beliefs with a focus to develop students’ individual Christian identity within their own tradition whilst in turn developing a love and respect for ecumenism and unity within the Christian faith.  It is essential for students to establish and communicate the value and importance of DRE at the heart of the Christian vision and ethos with the view of unity within diversity through receptive ecumenism. From Mr Gangemi’s (Head of RE) participation in the English Welsh Anglican Roman Catholic Committee for Ecumenism, Receptive ecumenism seems the model by which Christians learn from each other in order to both deepen our authentic respective identities and draw us into a more intimate relationship. This feeds into our school ethos so that students develop a sense of unity, belonging and community. 

The DRE curriculum is spiral in design and planned to model receptive ecumenism. Each term begins with a central Christian theme, scriptural focus or Gospel value which is first explored with Denominational focus to develop Catholic, Anglican, Free Church identity respectively. This is then explored in the Church through exemplar Christian saints, leaders and organisations. At the end of the units and year, this comes back around with an ecumenical focus on the universal Christian Church. Each DRE lesson begins with prayer or a minute of reflection/meditation. DRE should have the same buzz and drive for progress as Core RE does, with a spiritual, nurturing rapport. Where possible, DRE will be also used for worship formation and preparation and collaboration with the school Chaplains to support their pastoral role with the students.

GCSE Religious Studies

Placed as a core subject at St Bede’s, the whole cohort take the full course at GCSE which consists of two components. Students are entered for AQA GCSE Religious Studies A. Teaching begins in Year 10 and lessons are planned with common resources that challenge students to deepen their understanding of the core beliefs and teachings of Christianity and Islam and further apply their learning to the lived experience of faith in relation to contemporary moral issues such as crime and punishment, world poverty, conflict and violence, abortion and euthanasia to name a few. It is an engaging two years which develops students' skills of explanation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. Because of this, excellent results in RE can create avenues to further education and numerous careers and many students have gone on to take RS Philosophy and Ethics at A Level.

The full course is assessed in two, 1 hour 45 minute exams:

Paper 1 is the study of the key Beliefs and Teachings and Practices of two religions; Christianity and Islam.

Paper 2 consists of four Themes which are studied from different Christian perspectives. These are:

• B: Religion and Life

• D: Peace and Conflict

• E: Crime and Punishment

• F: Human Rights and Social Justice.

A level AQA RS (Religious Studies, Philosophy & Ethics)

Philosophy means ‘the love of wisdom’, whilst ethics analyses what constitutes our moral decision making and how humans should behave in certain situations. The course provides a critical approach to the consideration of moral and philosophical issues regarding the existence of God, the problem of evil and suffering, issues of animal and human life and so much more. 

An A Level in Religious Studies gives you the opportunity to study some of the fundamental issues and questions of life, the universe and everything. Studying this subject will provide you with a wealth of transferable skills such as critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis. It will develop your independent thought and understanding of a variety of different perspectives that are valuable for further study or essential qualities that are sought after by all employers.

There is so much that attracts people to this course. Whether it is enjoying debating, examining different approaches to contemporary matters of life like gender and sexuality, euthanasia and abortion or genetic engineering; whether you have a strong sense of faith or if you’re arguing as a staunch atheist; This course transports you into real life situations and gets you to grapple with views of famous thinkers to make your own decisions and justify what you believe.

For more information about this subject at KS5, please click here and go to the relevant subject leaflet.