Religious Education Curriculum KS3
Principal aim
The principal aim of religious education 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 and ways of living.
Overview
The threefold aim of RE elaborates the principal aim.
The curriculum for RE aims to ensure that all pupils:
1. Make sense of a range of religious and non-religious beliefs, so that they can:
- identify, describe, explain and analyse beliefs and concepts in the context of living religions, using appropriate vocabulary
- explain how and why these beliefs are understood in different ways, by individuals and within communities
- recognise how and why sources of authority (e.g. texts, teachings, traditions, leaders) are used, expressed and interpreted in different ways, developing skills of interpretation
2. Understand the impact and significance of religious and non-religious beliefs, so that they can:
- examine and explain how and why people express their beliefs in diverse ways
- recognise and account for ways in which people put their beliefs into action in diverse ways, in their everyday lives, within their communities and in the wider world
- appreciate and appraise the significance of different ways of life and ways of expressing meaning
3. Make connections between religious and non-religious beliefs, concepts, practices and ideas studied, so that they can:
- evaluate, reflect on and enquire into key concepts and questions studied, responding thoughtfully and creatively, giving good reasons for their responses
- challenge the ideas studied, and allow the ideas studied to challenge their own thinking, articulating beliefs, values and commitments clearly in response
- discern possible connections between the ideas studied and their own ways of understanding the world, expressing their critical responses and personal reflections with increasing clarity and understanding
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half Term 1 | What are the Abrahamic Faiths? | What difference does it make to be an atheist or agnostic in Britain today? ? | Good, bad, right, wrong: how do I decide? |
| Half Term 2 | What is good and what is challenging about being a Muslim teenager in Britain today? |
What difference does it make to be an atheist or agnostic in Britain today? ? |
Good, bad, right, wrong: how do I decide? |
| Half Term 3 | What is good and what is challenging about being a Muslim teenager in Britain today? |
Should happiness be the purpose of life? |
Why do some people believe in life after death? |
| Half Term 4 | The Buddha: how and why do his experiences and teachings have meaning for people today? |
Should happiness be the purpose of life? |
Why do some people believe in life after death? |
| Half Term 5 | The Buddha: how and why do his experiences and teachings have meaning for people today? |
Who cares for the environment and how? |
Why is there suffering? |
| Half Term 6 | What matters to Sikhs? |
Who cares for the environment and how? |
Why is there suffering? |
Key contact
Mrs N French