The Key Stage 3 curriculum adheres to and covers the Norfolk Agreed Syllabus and the National Curriculum for Religious Studies. RS encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, and values and traditions, while exploring their own beliefs and questioning their own principles. It challenges pupils to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of truth, belief, faith and ethics. The aim of RS is to encourage pupils to develop their sense of identity and belonging by enabling them to develop their own moral framework and personal belief systems. It enables them to flourish individually within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society and global community. RS has an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment, and lifelong learning. It enables pupils to develop respect for and sensitivity to others, in particular those whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own. Our Sprowston RS curriculum also aims to provide pupils with the knowledge of the major religions of the world and of the beliefs, customs, and practices of those religions and the cultures in which they form a part of. With this knowledge, pupils will be given the tools to spot and act against prejudice and misunderstandings. They will also be able to more effectively communicate and articulate their beliefs and opinions.
From year 7 to year 9, pupils will learn about the six major religions of the world: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Each of these religions has at least one topic dedicated to the study of its beliefs and practices. Alongside the study of religious traditions, Key Stage 3 pupils will begin to be exposed to contemporary moral and ethical themes and problems. For example, pupils will engage in issues such as abortion, the death penalty, and war and conflict. Lastly, pupils will also be presented with philosophical questions, such as the existence of God, the nature of our reality, and the question of free will. These theological, ethical, and philosophical studies aim to develop oratory and communication skills, along with other key skills such as analysis and evaluation of beliefs, reading and literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, and many more. All these transferable skills are revisited and continually developed throughout Key Stage 3, providing pupils with a strong foundation for GCSE Philosophy and Ethics and many other disciplines.
Our Key Stage 4 curriculum builds on the foundation of skills and knowledge learnt Key Stage 3. GCSE pupils study two major world religions, Christianity and Hinduism, in more depth and detail. Along with an in-depth study of the beliefs and practices of these religions, pupils also explore religious and non-religious views concerning ethical and moral themes such as the environment, animal welfare, homosexaulity and relationships, crime and punishment, war and conflict, and many more. This course allows pupils to gain a firm understanding of the moral debates which are currently occupying the news in our modern society and impacting humans all around the world. More emphasis is placed on developing the skills of accurately describing, explaining, analysing and evaluating religious beliefs and moral principles.
Students follow the AQA exam board’s course Religious Studies A 8062 which has two modules that covers:
In Religious studies at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 we use a variety of methods to assess the level of learning and understanding of pupils at any given point in the curriculum. Frequent targeted questioning is used at the start of lessons to provide context and summarise the key take-away knowledge of the previous lesson/lessons. A mixture of low-stakes quizzes and key word/term quizzes are frequently used throughout all topics of the RS curriculum. This means that knowledge recall of past lessons and topics are routine and habitual. Pupils mark their answers or their partners answer with green pen and give corrections. Pupils also receive regular individual and class verbal feedback. Class feedback narrates the progress of the class and provides direct whole class common ‘next steps’ and targets, including common mistakes and whole class praise. Individual feedback is given throughout classes during quiet independent learning, providing learners with simple, actionable feedback that can be implemented there and then. Pupils also receive direct written feedback in response to extended writing in their exercise book. This feedback gives clear praise and targets which can be used in their next piece of work.
The above formative assessment enables us to easily revisit certain topics or themes or beliefs, creating flexible lessons that are responsive to the needs of the class.
Our summative assessments test the skills and knowledge developed not just throughout the current topic but through previous topics as well. Pupils’ knowledge recall and their ability to describe, explain, compare and contrast, and evaluate are assessed in the end of topic paper. These assessments provide us with a broad understanding of where pupils are excelling and where they need more development of certain knowledge and skills.