Weobley High - Religious Studies
Department Information
Rationale / Aim / Principle
The principal aim of religious education at Weobley High School is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas, ways of living and worldviews.
Continuity
All students in Key Stage 3 cover the same topics. Many of the lessons are taught using the same plans and resources. All KS3 students complete the same end of unit assessments.
Key Stage 3 Religious Education follows the Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus 2020-2025
Key stage 4 AQA GCSE Religious Studies Specification A Christianity and Islam Year 10 RE (non GCSE) AQA Certificate Thematic, Christianity and Islam
Sequencing of Units – Units are selected from the Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus.
- To help provide a bases for the KS4 Specification – for example Unit 3.10 What is good and what is challenging about being a Muslim teenager in Britain today? (Islam G.C.S.E)
- According to the content – Unit 3.14 Good, bad; right, wrong: how do I decide? Is left until Year 9 as it contains more difficult concepts.
- To create building blocks of learning – Unit 3.8 The Buddha: how and why do his experiences and teachings have meaning for people today? Is covered before the Suffering unit as Buddhism contains specific ideas on suffering.
Key Concepts of RE at Weobley High School KS3 (from the Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus)
- Make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs
- Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs
- Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied
Progress in RE – Key Assessments
The Herefordshire agreed syllabus has models of assessment and progression. There is a specific Weobley High Assessment and Progression model that is available for Key Assessments are opportunities to assess the progress of the students – they often take place at the end of the topic or unit and are levelled according to the school policy with feedback given in terms of emerging, developing, secure, extended and excellence. Grade reviews are completed on a regular basis. In Key Stage 4 – examination style questions can also be marked and graded to assess student progress and attainment.
Work / Marking Scrutiny – Key assessments /learning walks / observations
Subject leader has access to all the key assessments – these can be examined to identify any inconsistencies in the teaching / learning of the curriculum. Learning walks take place so the subject leaders can look at the work produced by the students in different classes. Marking is also looked at during these methods – marking policy available with W.W.W and E.B.I. Annual observations take place to enable feedback and scrutiny.
Interventions SEND and Literacy
These take place for Year 11 RE lesson 1 on Thursdays – for students missing work on the curriculum or need help with revision/ exam materials. Pupil Premium students are also given access to their own revision book for Islam and Christianity.
Literacy: Key terms and definitions are covered on a lesson by lesson (words on the board) / topic by topic basis, building a knowledge of the curriculum. Student reading is encouraged where possible through worksheets or textbooks.
SEND students are supported with learning assistances in Key Stage 3, adaptive teaching is also applied along with any recommendations in individual ECHPs
Intent
- To develop and use core skills that are important in all aspects of life, examples include investigation, reflection and evaluation.
- To improve and cultivate attitudes that are fundamental to society such as respect, care and concern for all people and the environment.
- The curriculum aims to develop pupils who are well-informed about different beliefs and cultures while exploring their worldviews and reflecting on their own personal experiences.
Implementation
- To maintain rigorous and academic curriculum through Religious Education at Weobley high, while ensuring that the content is accessible to all pupils – The Curriculum is currently being updated to ensure that the “ways of knowing” are in place to ensure a high quality RE curriculum.
- All students will follow an accredited qualification in Religious Studies during Key stage 4– many will complete the AQA GCSE course in Religious Studies, some will follow an AQA Certificate course.
- The units are developed from the Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus and provide a curriculum which is coherent and allow students to build on their prior knowledge.
- Literacy and numeracy hold an important place within the RE curriculum with regular opportunities to develop these key skills.
Impact
- Pupils at Weobley high will have a knowledge and understanding of different worldviews, they will be able to apply this too many aspects of society.
- Students will be able to show their developed attitudes of respect of different cultures and worldviews into their future workplace and their community.
- Students will continue to refer and reflect on principle concepts relating to important issues such as equality and justice.
- They will be able to assess and consider their own personal accountability and wider global responsibilities towards environmental issues.
The impact of the curriculum is measured in a variety of ways, including
- Learning walks
- Lesson observations
- Online / book scrutiny
- Marking / teacher feedback opportunities
- Effective questioning techniques
- Key terms
- Student grade reviews and progress tracking.
- Discussion of wider media related stories.