RS: Key Stage 3
Year 7 Religious Studies
In Year 7, students learn mainly about the Abrahamic faiths. They first begin begin to explore the philosophical, theological and sociological disciplinary lenses that will be used throughout their learning journey of KS3 at Westminster. Students will explore what the key features are of religion and the purpose and role of religion. They will begin to compare and contrast some of these features such as festivals and symbols. Students will learn about as well as evaluate the arguments for and against the existence of God. They will gain an appreciation on how and why belief varies.
Year 8 Religious Studies
In Year 8, students learn mainly about the Dharmic faiths. They apply the learning of these religions to world philosophical issues such as the right to kill, the role of religion in peace and conflict, whilst also exploring why some people may choose to renounce religion. Students will learn about humanism and what it means to be a humanist, the topic will look into the reasons why people choose to be humanist. Students will gain knowledge on what are humanistic views towards abortion, sexuality, war and environment.
Year 9 Religious Studies
Year 9 is designed to build upon the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed in Key Stage 3 so that students can progress into GCSE with the strong foundations to be successful. The first two units explore Christianity and its influence on the UK. Students will gain a deeper understanding of why the UK became a Christian country as well as critically assess the role of Christianity today. In these two units they will develop their evaluation skills and abilities to explore different perspectives on key issues via debating and writing an extended evaluation essay. In Terms 3 and 4 students will explore the impact of other religions upon the UK, developing their enquiry and research skills. Term 5 students will explore in depth human rights issue by exploring the case study of the death penalty. They will examine a range of different religious views and non religious views helping them to develop an appreciation of the complexity of moral issues. They will build upon the written skills of evaluation that were introduced in Terms 1 and 2. Finally, Term 6 will bring together the knowledge and skills from the previous units as it will culminate in a final enquiry based project comparing and contrasting two creation stories from two different religions. It will also enable them to think critically about philosophical questions-such as why are we here? Does life have a deeper meaning?
Revision Material
Refer to your Religious Studies Google Classroom for lesson materials and revision resources.
Census Check!
How relevant is religion in society today? What role does it play? Is it as important as it once was?
Some of your questions may be answered in this discussion!
Moving beyond the curriculum...
To be a successful Religious Studies student, you must be able to show a sense of understanding of other faiths and belief systems.
The following sites are a great way to expand your learning beyond the classroom.
Quizzes for KS3 - Great for revising religions you have studied in Religious Studies.
Learn Religions - Use this site to explore different world religions, including ones that are not covered in our curriculum.