Religion and Philosophy

In Religion & Philosophy we take a critical realist and multidisciplinary approach, based on investigating truth claims and aiming for continuity of study from 11 to 18 and beyond. Our vision is for students to be religiously literate philosophers who can engage confidently with the variety of explicit and implicit world views operating in modern society.

Students at KS3 study three philosophical questions, looking at various religious opinions and arguments for each:

  • Year 7 How do we know what is true?
  • Year 8 What is the purpose of life?
  • Year 9  Does God Exist?

At KS4, those students who are in the green route study for a full GCSE over two years, those students that are in the yellow route will study for a short course over the same time. At Post 16, AS and A2 are popular options, with the course content being focussed around both ethics and Philosophy. In addition, all students participate in an annual post 16 R&P day and complete an R&P component in the tutorial program.

Due to the nature of the course, the Media provide many excellent teaching tools, as do films and other more unusual activities such as magic, drama and music. As a rule, the department attemts to provide as much variety in the classroom as possible.