Religious Studies
Learning Journey & Sequencing Rationale
As Religious Studies Teachers at Harrow High, we want our learners to be critical thinkers who are able to formulate their views taking into consideration different views and beliefs. We want learners to develop an enquiring mind where they will analyse different interpretations of beliefs. Through the lessons teachers want to encourage and develop the key attitudes including; curiosity and wonder, commitment, fairness , respect, self –understanding, open- mindedness, critical mindedness and enquiry. We want our learners to be effective communicators, we believe developing the skills mentioned will benefit learners during their journey at school but also within their future lives.
Religious Studies is taught over three years. There are four themes and two religions covered over the three years. In Year 9, learners cover Religion, Crime and Punishment, Islam Beliefs and Practices and Religion and Life. In year 10 learners cover Christianity Beliefs and Practices and Religion, Human Rights and Social Justice and then finally in year 11 learners cover Religion and Relationships and Families. The remaining two terms are spent revising the content delivered over the three years.
Rationale for Sequencing
Year 9
Year 9 begins with a study of Religion and Crime and Punishment, representing the key concepts in how religion will be applied to different aspects of crime and punishment. This initial unit is a well-designed introduction which also links to Citizenship which learners will have covered as part of Personal Development in year 8.
We then move on to Islam Beliefs and Practices this in comparison to Christianity learners appear to gasp better. As such this is taught before Christianity to enable learners to develop understanding on how to answer 4 mark, 5 mark and 12 mark questions applying knowledge. With a sound base of understanding the requirements of 2, 4, 5- and 12-mark questions, it becomes desirable to challenge learners by next moving onto Religion and Life, this will give learners an opportunity to apply knowledge.
Year 10 and 11
Learners will move onto Christianity at the start of year 10, by this time learners have gained good understanding in how to answer questions and how to apply previous and new knowledge as well as justifying their own opinion using religious teachings. This also gives learners an opportunity to find similarities between Islam and Christianity.
Much of the teachings they learn as part of Islam in year 9 and Christianity in year 10 can be applied the final two units; Religion, Human Rights and Social Justice and Religion, Families and Relationships.
For example, within Christianity they learn key Christian concepts such as ‘Love thy neighbour’ this can then be applied to areas taught in both the last two units covered at the end of year 10 and start of year 11.
After the first term learners a revision package is then delivered, enabling learners to recap all the topics and for any new learners to catch up what they may have missed out on.
unit overview - autumn term
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Subject: Christianity |
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Skills |
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Knowledge |
. Throughout this topic learners will:
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Rationale |
As part of the GCSE specification all learners must sit two papers focusing specifically on religious beliefs and practices. According to Wikipedia 59.5% of the U.K population identify as Christian. The London Borough of Harrow agreed Syllabus 2016 states 37.3% of resident identify as Christian. Harrow High School is a mixed and diverse school with religious and non- religious families however taking into consideration that Christianity is the main religion in the U.K it was deemed as beneficial for learners to better understand Christian beliefs and practices. It was also chosen due to the fact that nearly half of the U.K population identify as Christian. At Harrow High school we have many migrants from other parts of the world who may know little about Christianity but will have heard of the religion. The specification gives learners an opportunity to better understand festivals such as Easter and Christmas giving them better understanding of why schools close at certain times of the year. The other religion chosen is Islam, by choosing Christianity as the other religion we also feel it gives learners an opportunity to learn about two religions that are often deemed as different yet hold so many similarities. The unit demonstrates similarities in both beliefs and practices, for example the story of creation/ important figures within both religions and angels. Learners learn through their peers and identify similarities and enjoy sharing experiences. |
unit overview - spring term
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Subject: Christianity |
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Skills |
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Knowledge |
. Throughout this topic learners will:
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Rationale |
As part of the GCSE specification all learners must sit two papers focusing specifically on religious beliefs and practices. According to Wikipedia 59.5% of the U.K population identify as Christian. The London Borough of Harrow agreed Syllabus 2016 states 37.3% of resident identify as Christian. Harrow High School is a mixed and diverse school with religious and non- religious families however taking into consideration that Christianity is the main religion in the U.K it was deemed as beneficial for learners to better understand Christian beliefs and practices. It was also chosen due to the fact that nearly half of the U.K population identify as Christian. At Harrow High school we have many migrants from other parts of the world who may know little about Christianity but will have heard of the religion. The specification gives learners an opportunity to better understand festivals such as Easter and Christmas giving them better understanding of why schools close at certain times of the year. The other religion chosen is Islam, by choosing Christianity as the other religion we also feel it gives learners an opportunity to learn about two religions that are often deemed as different yet hold so many similarities. The unit demonstrates similarities in both beliefs and practices, for example the story of creation/ important figures within both religions and angels. Learners learn through their peers and identify similarities and enjoy sharing experiences. |
unit overview - summer term
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Subject: Religion, Human Rights and Social Justice |
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Skills |
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Knowledge |
Throughout this topic learners will: Analyse the impact of Human Rights , Examine different forms of discrimination and what Christianity and Islam teaches. Explain religious views in regards to religious freedom, use of wealth and responsibility of those living in poverty. Examine the religious views regarding giving money to the poor, Examine the influence of religious text in matters of helping those in need and also how wealth is used. |
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Rationale |
This is a theme within the GCSE specification, learners are taught about Rights and Responsibilities in Personal Development in year 7- 8, and the knowledge they have is built on to include religious views. Learners are given opportunities to discuss and formulate different arguments regarding different forms of discrimination. As part of the theme, learners look at Human Rights and the right to religious freedom, what learners find interesting most is analysing differences and also similarities. Learners are given an opportunity to look at examples of countries where gender inequalities still exist. The theme was chosen as it promotes social justice in many different areas. Learners are interested in justice and their rights and find the subject interesting, as part of the topic, learners examine different reasons for certain inequalities and learners enjoy discussing their opinion on different aspects of social justice. By giving learners different examples of social justice and injustices and the consequences of treating people unfairly, we believe learners will gain the knowledge they need in terms of tolerance of all and respect. We believe this will encourage respect and diversity during their school years at Harrow High School but also going on into their adult lives. |
knowledge Organiser
A knowledge organiser is an important document that lists the important facts that learners should know by the end of a unit of work. It is important that learners can recall these facts easily, so that when they are answering challenging questions in their assessments and GCSE and A-Level exams, they are not wasting precious time in exams focusing on remembering simple facts, but making complex arguments, and calculations.
We encourage all pupils to use them by doing the following:
- Quiz themselves at home, using the read, write, cover, check method.
- Practise spelling key vocabulary
- Further researching people, events and processes most relevant to the unit.