St Catherine's Catholic School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Religious Education

Head of Department (HOD): Mrs E. Freeman & Mrs P. Woodcock

2nd in Charge (2ic): Ms T. Walton

Teacher names: Miss L. Hall, Mrs P. Loughnane, Ms R Elderfield, Mr E. Bremerkamp & Mrs S. Norman

  • Religious Education aims to provoke challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God and issues of right and wrong.
  • It develops students understanding of Christianity and other religions.
  • It challenges students to reflect on, consider, analyse, interpret and evaluate issues of faith and ethics.
  • It is our hope that students become religiously literate young women who have the knowledge, understanding and skills to think spiritually, ethically and theologically and to be aware of the demands of religious commitment in today’s world.
  • Please see the attachment at the bottom of the page for the Religious Education Learning Journey Learning Journey Map for 2021-22.

KS3

Year 7: Community, Bible, Sacraments, Sikhism, Discipleship, Church History.

Year 8: Human Dignity, Who was Jesus?, Islam, Paschal Mystery, Arguments for the existence of God, Covenant 

Year 9: Who is Jesus?,  The Teachings of Jesus, Judaism Beliefs and teachings, Judaism Practices

Main skills developed in Years 7, 8 and 9:

Investigation: knowing how to use a variety of sources in order to gather information;

Interpretation: the ability to draw meaning from artefacts, works of art, poetry and symbolism and the ability to suggest meanings of religious texts.

 Reflection: the ability to reflect on feelings, experience, attitudes, beliefs, values, relationships, practices and ultimate questions.

 Evaluation: the ability to debate issues of religious significance with reference to evidence, argument, opinion and statements of faith;

KS4

Exam board and full GCSE course name: Eduqas Route B Catholic Christianity and Judaism

The GCSE course is a study of philosophy, ethics and Theology. Students study a variety of themes including origin of the universe, Origins of Human life, Sin and Forgiveness and life and death. All of these themes will be studied from the perspective of Catholics, Other Christians, Humanists and in some cases a Jewish perspective. Students will also study 1 course on Judaism.

The final exam components broken down by paper and brief content.

Component 1 - Foundation Catholic Theology 37.5%          

  • Origins and Meaning
  • Good and Evil

Paper 1: 90 mins

Component 2 - Applied catholic Theology 37.5%

  • Sin and Forgiveness   
  • Life and Death

Paper 2: 90 mins    

Component 3 - Study of Judaism 25%

Beliefs and teachings

Practices

Paper 3: 60 mins

How to Support your daughter in this Subject

There are many ways in which your daughter’s RE learning can be extended beyond the class room:

Discussions:

“Good literacy flows on a sea of talk” James Britton

An effective way of enhancing your daughter’s ability to write articulate and evaluative RE essays is to discuss religious and moral issues at home. National and global news will provide a good starting point in initiating debate and discussion topics.   Below are some suggestions of discussions which relate to the modules your daughter will be studying this year, though any discussion which promotes religious literacy is encouraged:

  • - How do we know that Jesus existed?
  • - Jesus was God – Discuss views of other religions and non-religious beliefs
  • - Is there life after death?
  • - Can miracles happen?
  • - Absolute morality is better than relative morality

RE Suggested Reading

Leaders are readers- Harry Truman

 Your daughter will need to be reading regularly- it is one of the best ways in which she can improve in her education as a whole not just in RE.  Hearing her read out loud, talking to her about what she is reading, giving her news/journal articles to read, equipping her with a local library card and facilitating trips to the library with her to use it will all be immeasurably valuable to your daughter’s academic progress. The following is a list of suggested RE reading, though any challenging books are encouraged:

  1. The gospel of Luke
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia
  3. Dear God this is Anna
  4. The diary of Anne Frank
  5. The book of Genesis
  6. The boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne
  7. To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee
  8. The Red Tent, Anita Diament
  9. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
  10. The Lord of the flies, William Golding
  11. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

RE suggested Ted talks

RE suggested film.

Family film night could be another opportunity to further your daughter’s understanding and interest in RE related issues. Below are some age-appropriate suggestions.

  • - Before the Flood (PG) Available on Netflix.

RE experiences

Sharing a family day out visiting Museums and/or places of worship is a great wat to help your daughter engage with RE topics.

  • The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London – See the Religious art department, topics are portrayed which have been studied this year in RE.
  • The British Library 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB- Contains the Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest manuscript of the complete New Testament.
  • The Jewish Museum, Raymond Burton House, London, NW1 7NB
  • The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG – There are variety of collections in the Museum which deal with religious themes and in addition to this they are also run exhibitions throughout the year
  • The Natural History museum, Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD
  • Bromley and Catford synagogue (by appointment)
  • Chatham Synagogue (by appointment) 

Careers Information

Some graduates of theology and philosophy follow careers in teaching, international relations, journalism or law.

Useful Weblinks

 

If you would like to find out more about the RE curriculum, please contact Mrs Freeman at info@stccg.co.uk

Please see some information from the RE department on how to support your daughter in RE. It includes some discussion ideas, reading lists and other ideas. We welcome your feedback and if you have any suggestions, comments or additions which you think would be helpful, we thank you in advance for your input. 

 

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