Beliefs & Culture
Intention Summary: ‘To explore what it means to exist as a human being in today’s world’
RE “…entails teachers bringing children and young people first to attend to their own experience and that of others, to engage intellectually with material that is new and to discern with others what is valuable with regard to living a religious life or one informed by a non-religious or other perspective...” (Living Difference III, The Agreed Syllabus for Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight 2016)
At Park Community School, we aim to help students to develop a curiosity regarding the world around them, to attend to issues important in exploring what it means to exist as a human being in the world today. R.E offers students the opportunity to explore questions of meaning for them as individuals, and to develop a greater sense of personal identity and purpose, a greater sense of their place in the world and what that world should be like.
Park Community School encourages students to value themselves and others, respecting different religions, cultures and attitudes. RE is not about promotion of a particular view but about challenging assumptions and exploration of life’s questions in relation to, and in collaboration with, others.
“Religious education in Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight intends to play an educative part in the lives of children and young people as they come to speak, think and act in the world.”
(Living Difference III, The Agreed Syllabus for Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight 2016)
Students are encouraged to reflect on a range of individual, school, local, national and world issues in order to develop a vision for their future and the future of others. It is our hope that our students recognise the importance of their own creativity in improving the quality of life not only for themselves but also for future generations.
Additionally, RE allows the development of rigorous, critical and analytical thinking and argumentation in the evaluation of particular concepts and ways of experiencing the world. Therefore, we aim to foster students’ ability to reason, to avoid making assumptions or taking information at face value.
The school provides Religious Education for all students in accordance with the agreed Hampshire syllabus called ‘Living Difference III’. This gives students the opportunity to explore a range of religious traditions, cultures and worldviews alongside developing their own in response to these. While a variety of perspectives will be investigated including secular traditions such as Humanism, the curriculum is mainly Christian based. This is to reflect the national and local character of religious belief, and to acknowledge the role that this religious tradition has had in underpinning the development of British values, laws and attitudes.
The way in which such worldviews are explored acknowledges that such questions can be answered in a number of qualitatively different ways. These include subscription to a set of propositional beliefs, to follow certain practices and traditions, and to have a particular way of existing or being in the world.
Additional Aims:
KS3 aims to offer an introduction to a selection of faith traditions and worldviews. This is achieved through the study of Judaism, Islam Christianity and Humanism. It also aims to enable students to begin to develop their sense of personal identity and their sense of meaning and purpose in the world. In particular this is a focus for ‘The Island’, ‘Being Human’ and ‘Humanism’ units. Units of work follow the ‘Cycle of Enquiry’ process as set out in Living Difference III.
KS4 follows the AQA (A) specification and all students are entered for the exam. The religions studied are Buddhism and Christianity. The teaching of the GCSE aims to give an in-depth awareness of the beliefs and practices of these two faith traditions alongside an analytical and evaluative exploration of four themes chosen for their importance to students lives and general awareness of the societies and communities we are a part of.
The Cycle of Enquiry
The KS3 curriculum follows a three-year course taught using the ‘Cycle of Enquiry’. Learning is driven by conceptual analysis and so each worldview explored will be taught around a selection of important concepts within this tradition. KS4 follows this pedagogy where appropriate in line with the content required for examination.
The Island
Key Concepts: Survival; Community; Rites of Passage; Law; Sacred; Tradition.
This unit aims to introduce students to a selection of concepts important to human beings and to explore their own responses to these. To allow students to begin to explore what is important in society and how we should live.
Judaism
Key Concepts: Torah; Remembrance; Israel.
An introduction to core Jewish beliefs with an overarching key question of ‘what does it mean to be Jewish?’.
Islam
Key Concepts: Islam; Umma; Jihad; Tawheed; Shirk; Islamophobia.
An exploration of key Islamic concepts alongside challenging misconceptions and tackling controversial issues.
Being Human
Key Concepts: Religion; Spirituality; God; Truth; Equality; Care.
This units builds on the themes of ‘The Island’ and continues to explore what matters in life to human beings.
Christianity
Key Concepts: Incarnation; Grace; Reconciliation; Authority.
This unit introduces key Christian beliefs about Jesus and some core differences in interpretation of these beliefs.
Humanism
Key Concepts: Rationalism and Naturalism; Moral Values; Humanity; Mortality; Secularism.
This unit provides and introduction into core Humanist concepts and so continues to build on ‘The Island’ and ‘Being Human’ in exploring what it means to be a human being.
Religion, Peace and Conflict
Buddhism: Beliefs and Teachings
Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings
Religion, Relationships and Families
Religious Practices: Buddhism
Religious Practices: Christianity
Religion, Crime and Punishment
Religion, Human Rights and Social Justice
Students leave us with a broader cultural capital, a deeper understanding and appreciation of the world around them and the ability to question others and develop their own informed points of view. They leave us having more deeply explored their own personal sense of meaning, purpose and place within society and the wider world. They leave as more critical, creative and reflective thinkers, able to articulate their vision for the society in which they live. Students will leave with a GCSE demonstrating their achievement and progress in this, and more prepared for life in modern Britain.