Christian Distinctiveness

Religious Studies Curriculum

Our Religious Studies curriculum intends to enable pupils to explore their own faith, the beliefs of others and ultimately their belief in God. Our hope is that pupils develop an understanding of how beliefs inform practice and ways of living in a way that promotes mutual respect, tolerance and understanding across different cultures and communities.  


Central to our knowledge-rich curriculum is the understanding of Christianity as a living and diverse faith in the twenty-first century, allowing students to explore, interpret and evaluate key beliefs and texts. This exploration enables the understanding of historical and sociological context, and the impact these teachings can have today. In order to support pupil’s evaluation of key beliefs and texts, we ensure that we support the development of pupil religious literacy through reading a range of interpretations, deliberately practising how to constructively argue, how to provide evidence to substantiate claims, and evaluate how convincing these arguments are.  
To ensure breadth of understanding, we also study a diverse range of religions and worldviews, including the Abrahamic traditions, the Dharmic faiths and Humanism, as well as both religious and non-religious ethical theories and philosophical investigations.

 

Our curriculum reflects the diversity of beliefs within our school community as well as fostering an understanding and respect across cultures. 

The building of cultural capital is intertwined throughout all our topics to promote the relevance of Religious Studies in everyday life, from the development of decision-making and discussion and debating skills, to reflecting on the individual impact we can have on both our local community and the wider world.

 

 RS Curriculum Overview

Year 7 Knowledge Organisers

Year 8 Knowledge Organisers

GCSE Knowledge Organisers

Edexcel GCSE in Religious Studies B (1RB0)

 Paper 1: Area of Study 1 – Religion and Ethics (Paper code: 1RB0/1B)

  • Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes
  • 50% of the qualification, 102 marks

 Content overview: Students study all four content sections based upon Christianity.

  • Beliefs
  • Marriage and the Family
  • Living the Christian Life
  • Matters of Life and Death

Paper 2: Area of Study 2 – Religion, Peace and Conflict (Paper code: 1RB0/2C)

Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes
50% of the qualification, 102 marks

Content overview: Students study all four content sections based upon Islam.

  • Beliefs
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Living the Muslim Life
  • Peace and Conflict

Assessment overview:

  • Both papers include short open response, and extended writing questions.
  • They also assess spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) and use of specialist terminology.

OCR A-Level in Religious Studies (H573)

Paper 1: Philosophy

Written examination: 2 hours
1/3 of the qualification, 120 marks

 Content overview:

  • Ancient Philosophical Influences
  • Soul, Mind and Body
  • Arguments for the existence of God
  • Religious Experience
  • The Problem of Evil
  • Nature or Attributes of God
  • Religious Language

Paper 2: Ethics

Written examination: 2 hours
1/3 of the qualification, 120 marks

 Content overview:

  • Natural Law
  • Situation Ethics
  • Kantian Ethics
  • Utilitarianism
  • Euthanasia
  • Business Ethics
  • Meta-ethical theories
  • Conscience
  • Sexual Ethics

Paper 3: Development in Christian Thought

Written examination: 2 hours
1/3 of the qualification, 120 marks

 Content overview:

  • Augustine’s teaching on human nature
  • Death and the afterlife
  • Knowledge of God’s existence
  • The Person of Jesus
  • Christian Moral Principles
  • Christian Moral Action (Bonhoeffer)
  • Religious Pluralism
  • Gender
  • The Challenge of Secularism
  • Liberation Theology and Marx

Assessment overview:

  • All three papers require students to write extended responses which assess their knowledge, application and evaluation skills, as well as their ability to make informed and justified judgments.

Career Links:

  • Social work
  • Journalism
  • Politics
  • Teachings
  • Law
  • Community work
  • Human resources
  • Marketing
  • Sociology
  • Charity work

Contact Us

The Nottingham Emmanuel School
Gresham Park Road
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 7YF
E-mail: admin@emmanuel.nottingham.sch.uk
Tel: 0115 977 5380

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