Key Stage 3

Year 7

Intent

Through various enquiries students will explore the God of classical Theism, different major world religions, key figures and how their beliefs have influenced their lives. They will consider religious and non-religious beliefs. Students will learn how to engage in polite and respectful discussion evaluate their own and others beliefs.

Learning Journey

Enquiry: Why believe in God? Or why be an atheist?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Arguments for God:
    • In Search if the real
    • Creation
    • Design
    • Religious Experience: Guru Nanak, Muhammad and St Paul
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Understanding of others and own beliefs
  • Awareness of different beliefs/religions
  • Develop empathy
  • Polite and respectful discussion
Key vocabulary
  • Agnostic
  • Atheist
  • Theist
  • Creation
  • Omnipotent
  • Omniscient
  • Omnibenevolent
  • Revelation

Enquiry: Why believe in God? Or why be an atheist?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Arguments against God:
    • Scientific ideas about the origins of the universe and life.
    • Different interpretations of creation
    • Evil and Suffering
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Understanding of others and own beliefs.
  • Awareness of different beliefs/religions
  • Evaluating different beliefs/arguments including their own.
  • Develop empathy
  • Polite and respectful discussion
Key vocabulary
  • Big Bang Theory
  • Theory of Evolution
  • Empirical, Objective
  • Subjective
  • Fact
  • Theodicy
  • Inconsistent Triad
  • Original sin

Enquiry: Who is Jesus?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Different Religious and non-religious opinions (Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Roman)
  • Jesus in Art
  • What did Jesus do?
  • Miracles
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Engagement with sacred sacred texts
  • Linking Abrahamic faiths
  • Looking at what it is that drives us, core beliefs and how we can put them into action promoting self-awareness and purpose
Key vocabulary
  • Test of faith
  • Sacrifice
  • Punishment
  • Ethics
  • Morality
  • Dilemma

Enquiry: Who is Jesus?

Core knowledge and skills
  • What did Jesus say?
  • Sermon on the Mount
  • The Good Samaritan
  • Mad Bad or God?
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Understanding and respect different religious leaders’ beliefs and practices
  • Be inspired by different responses to social injustice
  • Developing an understanding of the human right to freedom of expression, the right to protest and education.
Key vocabulary
  • Messiah
  • Prophet
  • Enlightenment
  • Anti-Semitism
  • Persecution 
  • Discrimination

How do you put your beliefs into action?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Covenant
  • Abraham and Isaac (Judaism, Christianity and Islam)
  • Dilemma of religious calling
  • What are your beliefs?
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Understanding and appreciation of diverse beliefs about the figure of Jesus
  • Different cultural representations of Jesus
  • A sense of awe at the power of God that many believe is revealed through miracles.
Key vocabulary
  • Messiah
  • Incarnate
  • Prophet Eesa
  • Miracles
  • Bible
  • Qur’an
  • Healing
  • Crucifixion

Enquiry: What Makes an Inspirational Figure?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Who was Muhammad?
  • Who was Buddha?
  • Contemporary inspirational people e.g Malala Yousafzai
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Understanding and appreciation of diverse beliefs
  • Consideration of the links between societal and own morality in relation to the teachings of Jesus.
Key vocabulary
  • Messiah, Incarnate, prophet Eesa, miracles, Bible, Qur’an, Healing, Crucifixion
  • Beatitudes, Good Samaritan, neighbour

Year 8

Intent

Through various enquiries students will explore different religious and non-religious beliefs about philosophical and ethical issues. Students will learn how to engage in polite and respectful discussion evaluate their own and others beliefs. Students will also start to use scripture in their written work.

Learning Journey

 

Enquiry: What will make our communities more respectful? Equality

Core knowledge and skills
  • Prejudice and discrimination
  • Racism
  • Holocaust
  • Stephen Lawrence
  • Islamophobia
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Appreciation for diversity in society and in the classroom.
  • Develop empathy
  • Polite and respectful discussion
Key vocabulary
  • Discrimination
  • Equality
  • Genocide
  • Homophobia
  • Prejudice
  • Racism
  • Sexism
  • Stereotypes
  • Tolerance

Enquiry: What will make our communities more respectful? Equality

Core knowledge and skills
  • Responses to Racism
  • Martin Luther King
  • Black lives matter
  • Religious and non-religious teachings about racism
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Understanding of others and own beliefs.
  • Appreciation for diversity in society and in the classroom.
  • Understanding of religious beliefs and teachings about equality and ways to fight for equality
  • Develop empathy
  • Polite and respectful discussion
Key vocabulary
  • Ummah
  • Black lives matter
  • White supremacy

Enquiry: What can we learn from visiting places of worship?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Names of different religions, their followers, their places of worship and holy books if possible.
  • Definition of worship
  • Types of worship in different places of worship (Must cover Church, Mosque, Synagogue and Gurdwara)
  • Names of specific parts of each place of worship.
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Better understanding our religious community
  • Developing an understanding of the human right to freedom of religious expression.
  • Recognising the sense of awe that religious believers have for God and how this can be expressed in worship and the design and beauty of some places of worship.
  • Understanding the human need for spirituality.
Key vocabulary
  • Buddhism/Buddha/Vihara/Vedas
  • Christianity/ Christian/Church/Bible
  • Hinduism/Hindu/Mandir/Bhagavadgita
  • Islam/Muslim/Mosque/Qur’an
  • Judaism/Jew/Synagogue/Torah
  • Sikhism/Sikh/Gurdwara/Guru Granth Sahib

Enquiry: What can we learn from visiting places of worship?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Identify similarities between different religions places of worship
  • Identify differences between different religions places of worship
  • Study Derby multi faith centre
  • Design multi-faith centre
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Recognising similarities between places of worship.
  • Celebrating and overcoming differences through problem solving.
  • Group work to promote healthy polite debate, problem solving and resilience.
Key vocabulary
  • Diversity
  • Multi-faith dialogue
  • Inclusive
  • Equality
  • Community cohesion
  • Respect
  • Spirituality

Enquiry: Death: is it the end?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Different beliefs about life after death
  • Hindu beliefs about life after death
  • Christian beliefs about life after death.
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Students are invited to express their own views and explore others respectfully.
  • Making links between beliefs
  • Asking ultimate questions
  • Considering consequences of actions.
Key vocabulary
  • Dharma
  • Karma
  • Atman
  • Reincarnation
  • Enlightenment
  • Judgement
  • Heaven
  • Hell Purgatory

Enquiry: Death: is it the end?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Similarities and Differences
  • Is there a life after death? Own beliefs.
  • Evidence for life after death: Near death experiences and memories of past lives.
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Students are invited to express their own views and explore others respectfully.
  • Making links between beliefs
  • Asking and answering ultimate questions
  • Considering consequences of actions.
Key vocabulary
  • Dharma
  • Karma
  • Atman
  • Reincarnation
  • Enlightenment
  • Judgement
  • Heaven
  • Hell
  • Purgatory

Year 9

Intent

Through various enquiries students will explore different religious and non-religious beliefs about philosophical and ethical issues. Students will learn how to engage in polite and respectful discussion evaluate their own and others beliefs. Students will also start to use scripture in their written work.

Learning Journey

Enquiry: What is it like to be a Muslim?

Core knowledge and skills
  • The Five Pillars of Islam
  • The Six Articles of Faith
  • The Five Roots
  • The Oneness of God
  • The Nature of Allah
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Developing an understanding of the key beliefs that underpin the Muslim faith.
  • This will cultivate greater empathy and understanding amongst non-Muslims for their Muslim peers. Also, it will give Muslim students a more academic view of their faith.
Key vocabulary
  • Shahadah 
  • Sawn
  • Zakah
  • Salat
  • Hajj
  • Monotheism
  • 99 names of Allah
  • Tawhid
  • Adalat
  • Imamate
  • Al-ma'ad
  • Nubbuwah

Enquiry: Does religion make peace or cause war?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Introducing the debate about War
  • Types of violence
  • Just War
  • Holy War
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Develop an understanding of the different types of violence and war throughout history, as well as ways in which wars have been stopped and prevented.
  • This will cultivate a more critical engagement with historical and present-day events amongst pupils. They will learn to evaluate the different motivations, means and ends of conflict and devise their own outlook.
Key vocabulary
  • Types of violence (domestic, physical, sectarian, military etc.)
  • Just War Theory
  • Holy War
  • The Crusades
  • Civil War

Enquiry: Does religion make peace or cause war?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Israel-Palestine
  • Ukraine
  • Pacificism
  • Forgiveness
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Applying the ethical framework developed in the previous term to more contemporary issues.
  • This will demonstrate the application of RPE for our students. They will learn how to formulate and convey their opinions on contemporary, controversial issues in a mature, considerate and academic manner.
Key vocabulary
  • Partition
  • The Ukrainian-Conflict
  • Pacifism
  • Forgiveness
  • WMD’s
  • The Manhattan Project
  • Nuclear Deterrent
  • Dr. Robert Oppenheimer

Enquiry:  What is it like to be a Sikh?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Key Sikh Beliefs
  • How do Sikh’s view God?
  • The 10 Gurus
  • The Five K’s
  • Sikh Festivals
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Developing an understanding of the key beliefs that underpin the Sikh faith.
  • This will cultivate greater empathy and understanding amongst non-Sikhs for their Sikh peers. Sikhs are perhaps the most visible religious minority for our students, not just because of what their religious dress, but also due t our proximity to a Gurdwara. Hence, NFS students having an understanding of the faith is crucial to promote inclusivity and tolerance in school and the community.
  • Also, it will give Sikhs students a more academic view of their faith.
Key vocabulary
  • The Khalsa
  • Kesh
  • Kangha
  • Kirpan
  • Kechera
  • Kara
  • Singh
  • Kaur
  • Guru Nanak
  • Guru Gobind Singh
  • Vaisakhi
  • Gurdwara
  • Guru Granth Sahib
  • Sewa
  • Caste System

Enquiry: Where can I find wisdom to live by?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Sources of Moral Authority
  • Belief in Angels
  • Prophethood
  • Sources of Wisdom
  • Considering their own sources of moral authority/wisdom.
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Developing an understanding of where we get moral authority from, e.g. parents, teachers, friends, religion etc., and evaluating which sources are the most significant/trustworthy/
  • This will encourage students to consider the source of their own conceptions about what is right and wrong, as well as providing them with an empathy and understanding for others.
Key vocabulary
  • Moral authority
  • Wisdom
  • Angels (Jibreel, Mikael etc.)
  • Risalah
  • Prophet
  • Qur’an
  • Scrolls of Abraham
  • Hadiths

Enquiry: What can we learn from the Holocaust?

Core knowledge and skills
  • Antisemitism
  • Concentration Camps
  • Heroes of the Holocaust
  • Reconciliation
  • Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial Centre Visit
Enriched knowledge and skills
  • Bolstering students varied prior understanding of the Holocaust with an in-depth moral investigation, focused on the motivations, the means, resistance, how it was ended and the hope/possibility of reconciliation.
  • This will promote confidence amongst students in processing majorly traumatic historical events, and in terms of learning how to speak about them with respect.
Key vocabulary
  • Antisemitism
  • Concentration camps
  • Political prisoners
  • Nazis
  • The final solution
  • Other camps: e.g. Ravensbruch, Mauthaussen, Dachau
  • Holocaust theology.

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