Aims

• To stimulate an interest in, and an enthusiasm for, the study of religion
• To develop pupils’ emotional intelligence and spiritual awareness
• To promote reflection on questions about the meaning and purpose of life
• To investigate moral issues relevant to pupils’ lives
• To develop skills of analysis and evaluation
• To help pupils achieve excellent exam results
• To recruit strongly to GCSE R.S. and A Level philosophy
• To teach to pupils’ different strengths and learning styles
• To make sure every individual can make progress appropriate to their ability
• To embrace the multi-faith world in which we all live

Attitudes

Respect, care, concern, commitment, fairness, tolerance, self-understanding and enquiry are studied, promoted and fostered. These attitudes are fundamental to religion and Religious Studies as they are prerequisites for participating fully in religion, or entering into the study of religions. In this way, students can grow emotionally and, perhaps, spiritually, as well as intellectually.

Ethos

Colfe’s Religious Studies Department enables pupils to learn about religion, to learn from religion and to learn to evaluate beliefs that they and others hold.

For example, students learn that one of the Ten Commandments says, ‘Honour your father and mother.’ They examine the Greek myth about Icarus who, against the advice of his Father, flew too close to the sun and drowned. (Learning about religion). They will also explore the relevance of these teachings for their own lives and may conclude that Mum and Dad always have their best interests at heart. They may decide that if they disrespect them, they are disrespecting themselves and God too, or, that parents do usually know best. They may also realise that, in our society, age and wisdom are undervalued. (Learning from religion).  They may, however, argue that you can disagree with your parents, while still respecting their wishes and doing as they say. Or they may argue that you can agree with the commandment in general but accept that there are exceptions in cases of parents who are having difficulties of their own. (Evaluation).

Curriculum

Lower School. The school has a Christian foundation and Christianity forms an important part of the curriculum. However pupils study the beliefs and practices of the world’s major religions so that they have a deeper understanding of people in our multi-cultural society, and in the global community. In addition, students learn to think critically about belief and are encouraged to ask and explore questions, without necessarily seeking answers. This practice bears fruit in year 9 when students are introduced to Ethics and moral problems and also spend six weeks studying arguments for and against God’s existence.

Middle School. The GCSE course is 50% religious ethics and 50% philosophy. Students learn teachings and wisdom from Christianity relevant to contemporary moral issues as well as developing their own opinions, wisdom and evaluative skills. Topics studied include prejudice and discrimination, sex and marriage, alcohol and drugs, abortion and euthanasia, wealth and poverty. In addition students examine the arguments for God’s existence, evaluate the relationship between science and religion and examine religious explanations for suffering.

Sixth Form. A level philosophy is offered at Colfe’s, please click here, for the course outline. Students do not require GCSE R.S. as a prerequisite.