Religious Education

Aims of the Religious Education Department


Staff Names and Roles

Mr McDevitt (Curriculum Leader)

Mr Brown 

Broad General Education Course Layout: S1 Syllabus

Main Text: The New Religion for Living Book 1.

Term 1:

Term 2:

Term 3:

Broad General Education Course Layout: S2 Syllabus

Main Text: Religion for Living Book 2

Term 1: Section C: Foundations of Religion - Judaism

PART 1: The Context

PART 2: Sources of Evidence

PART 3: Rites of Passage and other Rituals

PART 4: Development of Tradition

Term 2: Section D: The Question of Faith

PART 2: The Beginnings of Faith

PART 3: The Growth of Faith

Called to Love: 

Term 3: Section D: The Question of Faith

PART 4: The Expression of Faith

PART 5: Challenges of Faith



Broad General Education Course Layout: S3 Syllabus

Main Text: Religion for Living Book 3

Term 1: Section E: The Celebrating of Faith: Christianity

PART 1: The World of Ritual

PART 2: The Experience of Worship

PART 3: Worship as a Response to Mystery

PART 4: Sign and Symbol

PART 5: Prayer

Term 2: Section F: The Moral Challenge

PART 1: Introduction to Morality

PART 2: Sources of Morality

Called to Love:

Term 3: Section F: The Moral Challenge

PART 3: Growing in Morality

PART 4: Challenges to Faith

S4 Course Outline

Main Text: Catholic Christianity: Unit C Religion and Life based on a study of Catholic Christianity.

Term 1

CHAPTER 1: Believing in God

Factfile 1: Catholic Upbringing and Belief in God

Factfile 2: Religious Experience and Belief in God

Factfile 3: The Appearance of the World and Belief in God

Factfile 4: Other Reasons for Believing in God

Factfile 5: Why Some People Do Not Believe in God

Factfile 6: Evil and Suffering

Factfile 7: The Nature and Importance of Prayer

CHAPTER 3: Marriage and Family Life

Factfile 15: Social facts on Marriage, Divorce and Family Life

Factfile 16: Christian Teachings on Divorce

Factfile 17:Christian Teachings on the Family

Factfile 18: Catholic Teachings on the Family

Called to Love:

Term 2

CHAPTER 4: Social Harmony

Factfile 21: Equal Rights for Men and Women

Factfile 22: Bible Teachings on the Roles of Men and Women

Factfile 23: Christian Attitudes to the Roles of Men and Women

Factfile 24: The UK as a Multi - Ethnic Society

Factfile 25: Catholic Teachings which Promote Racial Harmony

Factfile 26: The UK as a Multi - Faith Society

Factfile 27: Christian Attitudes to other Religions

Factfile 28: Religions Working Together

CHAPTER 5: Religion and the Media

Factfiles: 29, 30, 31 and 32.

CHAPTER 6: Religion, Wealth and Poverty

Factfiles: 33, 34, 35 and 36.

Unit J Catholic Christianity 

CHAPTER 7: Beliefs and Values

Factfiles: 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43.

CHAPTER 8: Community and Tradition

Factfiles: 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48.

Term 3

CHAPTER 9: Worship and Celebration

Factfiles: 49 - 57.

CHAPTER 10: Living the Christian Life

Factfiles: 58 - 63.

CHAPTER 11: A Place of Christian Worship

Factfiles: 64-67.

Chapter 12: Christian Vocation

Factfiles: 68 - 71.

S5 Course Outline

Main Text: Today's Issues and Christian Beliefs

Term 1

PART 1: Making Moral Decisions

1. Why bother Studying Morality?

2. The Bible and Ethics

3. Christianity: The Love and Principle

4. God, Human beings and Morality

PART 2:The Family

5. Marriage (1)

6. Marriage (2)

7. Christians and the Family 

8. Sex

Called to Love:

PART 3: Citizenship Issues

15. Christias and work: Equal Rights for Men and Women

16. Substance Abuse

17. Crime and Punishment

18. Capital Punishment

19. Christianity in the Media

PART 4: Mutual Responsibility

20. Racism (1)

21. Racism (2)

22. Asylum 

23. Christianity and other Religions

24. Christianity and Art

25. Sexism

26. Disability

27. Suicide and Euthanasia

28. Forgiveness

Term 3

PART 5: Religion and World Issues

29. Poverty (1)

30. Poverty (2)

31. Poverty (3)

32. Poverty (4)

33. Christian Attitudes to War

34. Pacifism and Terrorism 

35. Nuclear Weapons

36. Green Issues

37. Animal Rights

PART 6: Is Religion True?

38. What is God?

39. What Caused the Universe?

40. The Argument from Design

41. Experience of God

42. The Problem of Pain

43. Christian Beliefs about Life after Death

44. Fear of Death

S6 Course Outline

Main Text: Mark's Gospel

Themes: Faith in Action/Discipleship/Moral Choices

Term 1

CHAPTER 1 : Discipleship

CHAPTER 2:  Conflict and Argument

Called to Love: 

Term 2

CHAPTER 3: Death and Resurrection

CHAPTER 4: The Identity of Jesus

Higher RMPS

The Higher RMPS course will challenge learners to develop critical thinking skills and learn how to construct a well-researched response to the religious, ethical and philosophical issues that are raised during the delivery of the subject. The content of the course is demanding and requires a high level of maturity and commitment to independent research that is essential and necessary for success in this course.

 The Course Outline

1.     World Religion: Christianity  

 

Whether you consider yourself a religious person or not, religion has played a very important role in most cultures throughout history.  Humans have engaged in religious practices and activities, such as worship, prayer and rituals marking rites of passage, for a very long time. All religious traditions address fundamental questions about human existence; give meaning to the lives of those who believe in their orthodoxy, and influences people’s actions. One of the reasons we study religion is to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others.

The course will require the study of a world religion in detail. Learners will explore the beliefs, practices and historical foundations of Christianity. They will also examine the relevance and importance of religion in contemporary culture. 

2.     Morality and Belief: Medical Ethics 

Looking at the ethics or morality of something means looking at the right or wrong of it, the good or bad of it, the humanity or inhumanity of it.  Knowing right from wrong is one of the qualifications for being a well-functioning member of a just and fair society. Learners will be required to make the link between ethical theory and the practical reality of solving problems that present in the real world of medicine. Applying theory to real life scenarios will provide learners with the opportunity to examine the strengths and weaknesses of religious and non-religious theories of morality. 

3.     Religious and Philosophical Question: The Origins of Life 

Philosophy has been studied for thousands of years. It involves the use of reason and argument to search for the truth about reality and the nature of things. It is used to explore the complexity of The Human Condition and the nature of existence. In this part of the course learners will explore the relationship between Science and Religion. When it comes to the study of origins two different paradigms of knowledge will be explored. The Christian narrative offers an explanation of the beginnings of life and the universe and this has been challenged by scientific explanations about the origins of life. 

4.     Assignment: Personal Research Project

The topic and question for this research assignment are selected by individuals from any section of the work covered by the course. Writing a dissertation/assignment requires a range of planning and research skills that will be of great value for future careers or studies.  Learners use their own discernment about the choice of topic and are expected to have some understanding and interest in the theory and literature on their chosen area.