Religious Education

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Introduction

Religious Studies at Loxford is about teaching tolerance and understanding. It’s about preparing students and giving them the skill to flourish as able and qualified participants of a multi-cultural, multi-faith society.

Religious Education makes a distinctive contribution to the school curriculum by developing pupils' knowledge and understanding of religion, religious beliefs, practices, language and traditions and their influence on individuals, communities, societies and cultures. It enables pupils to consider and respond to a range of important questions related to their own spiritual development, the development of values and attitudes and fundamental questions concerning the meaning and purpose of life. The RE department at Loxford are a successful and dedicated team who are committed to the students enjoyment and development in Religious Studies.

KS3

At Key Stage 3 pupils study a variety of different topics. We aim to create an inclusive environment so we aim to study the majority of the major world religions over Years 7 and 8 with an open and broad perspective. In Year 7 we build on pupils prior knowledge and study world religions as a foundation for their study in Year 8 and beyond. In year 7 we study the following:

Bridging Unit
Christianity
Hinduism
Judaism
Citizenship
Major Religious Festivals

In Year 8 we take a thematic approach, looking at topics from the perspective of different religions:

Inspirational Figures
Rites of Passage
Religion and Art
Evil and Suffering
Citizenship

KS4

The aim of GCSE Religious Studies is to teach pupils an understanding and evaluation of different religions and their impact on the world; pupils are encouraged to develop their imagination and become aware of the spiritual dimension and the richness it can bring. We find it essential for pupils to learn about the community they live in and we therefore implement compulsory Religious Studies throughout the school until Year 11. The pupils enjoy the subject and have in the past completed GCSE exams early in Year 9 and Year 10 and we have consistently had excellent grades.

In their 2×1 hour lessons pupils will be discussing and analysing Muslim and Christian views, as well as considering non-religious views, on a range of philosophical, moral and ethical topics such as abortion, the existence of the afterlife, the roles of men and women and capital punishment. Students study 4 units in total:

Issues of Human Rights
Issues of Good and Evil
Issues of Life and Death
Issues of Relationship

In their 1 hour a week lessons pupils in year 10 study Christianity for the first half of the year before then studying Islam for the second half. When studying Christianity pupils look at the following areas:

The nature of God
Creation
Jesus Christ (incarnation, resurrection and atonement)
Afterlife
Forms of worship
Sacraments
Pilgrimage
Celebrations
Whether the UK is still Christian
The Church in the local community and the worldwide church.

When studying Isalm pupils will look at:

The nature of Allah
Prophethood
Angels
Afterlife
The foundations of faith
The Five Pillars of Sunni Islam
The Ten Obligatory acts of Shi’a Islam
Jihad
Islamic festivals such as Eid-ul-Adha.

GCSE Results 2022

Congratulations to the Year 11 students on achieving 80% grades 9-4.

GCSE Results 2021

Congratulations to the Year 11 students on achieving 84% grades 9-4.

GCSE Results 2020

Congratulations to the year 11 students on achieving 95% grades 9-4.

Religion in the news

Future Careers for RE:

Religious Studies students develop their understanding and appreciation of religious beliefs and teachings, as well as the disciplines of ethics and the philosophy of religion.

The skills learned as part of studying religious studies can be useful in many different jobs that require logical thought or communication of ideas. Studying this subject can help with careers in law, education, politics or business.

Homework

At Key Stage 3 pupils will be set homework every other week and are expected to take between 30 mins to an hour to complete the work. At Key Stage 4 pupils will be set homework every week and are expected to spend between 1 to 2 hours on it.