The Religious Education department has a true commitment to ensure that all our
students flourish both academically and spiritually. Religious Education for young
people provokes challenging questions about the meaning and purpose of life. It
develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of a variety of religious traditions and
enables them to build their sense of identity and belonging, which helps them flourish
within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society. RE prompts pupils to
consider their responsibilities to themselves and to others and to explore how they
might contribute to their communities and to the wider society. It encourages empathy,
generosity, and compassion.
Religious Education at Wood Green focuses on three themes: philosophical problems,
ethical dilemmas and learning about and from religious traditions around the world.
These themes are embedded throughout the Key Stages to build knowledge and skills
such as critical thinking and communicating clearly through written and spoken
language.
They are all intended to develop the students’ belief system and their moral compass,
which will enable them to navigate the complexities of modern living. For example, our
prejudice and discrimination module investigates how practising a religion in the UK
can radically change the way you are perceived and treated by others.
In addition to addressing concrete problems which our students may face, our
curriculum is also designed to challenge our students’ minds. This is shown by our
philosophical thought experiments module in year 8 which focuses on the works of
modern philosophers such as Peter Singer, Phillipa Foot and Robert Nozick.
Purpose: Teaches skills of debate, enquiry and critical thinking. Specifically, what
evidences leads you to conclusions? This is followed through KS4 and KS5 thinking.
(Feb half-term)
Purpose: to understand the rites of passage and ceremonies and ethics of Humanists.
(Easter)
Purpose: Second biggest religion in our area. Builds a sense of respect and acceptance
of Islam and a better understanding of the problems Muslims face in the UK, in a hope
to create a more equal and diverse society.
Purpose: How to be responsible members of the planet, and investigating the choices
we make in how we treat other species.
The KS3 WGS Baccalaureate activities - History
Purpose: To encounter thought provoking questions and debates which encourage deep
metaphysical and ethical thinking. It develops debating skills, oracy and creating
justifications for behavioural choices in difficult contexts. Leads to ethics in both GCSE
and A-level.
Debate of the purpose and relevance?
Purpose: Addressing historic inequalities caused through colonialism and western
imperialism, extending learning in History. It aims to counter ethnocentrism and
encourages students to learn from and about different unique and interesting cultures.
Adds to our student's awareness of global issues and religions which are not just in their local vicinity (need to care about injustice and build reverence for different cultures
regardless of close the culture is geographical to our own).
Purpose: A dharmic religion develops knowledge for GCSE, the children learn from spirituality and coping
mechanisms in an increasingly stressful and overwhelming secular world. This is in
addition to learning from and about a religion and their core beliefs.
Purpose: A dharmic religion to build on key knowledge from Buddhists key concepts such as karma and rebirth, to understand the culture and caste system of India and to debate whether this is a fair society to live in.
The KS3 WGS Baccalaureate activities - History
Purpose: Fits schools development plan, building a community which is anti-racist and
individuals who are not bystanders. We discuss key social and cultural issues which are
important for historical injustices and contemporary problems in society. Especially in a
predominantly white and homogenic area. This module also develops notions of agape
and loving they neighbour which was mentioned in previous years.
Purpose: Big philosophical questions which will be encountered in everyone’s life and
is a taboo area for discussion and oracy. It is significant to address this in a space
which is safe and open. It addresses key worldviews; religious perspectives, as well as
Humanist and atheist conceptions of life after death.
Purpose: Extending the learning from previous religious traditions Christianity,
Buddhism and Islam, as well as additional world religions with a focus on love and
relationships. Allows for students to become more aware about another area which may
be seen as taboo, yet one which is very significant for the development of a sense of
identity for young people. Similarly, it will give our students a wider knowledge base and
skill set to discern harmful relationships which are so commonly represented over social
media and the news. This addressed the need for moral, cultural, social and spiritual
questions to be openly discussed and evaluated, from the perspective of different
world views.
The KS3 WGS Baccalaureate activities - History
Our objective is to ensure that all our students have a grasp of the main religious
tradition of Great Britain and a contrasting religion. For young people to question and
evaluate the beliefs and practices of religion in modern society, and to understand why
religion plays a key part in millions of people's lives across the globe.
Topics Covered
In Year 10, students are taught the content and exam skills. Students will explore two
world religions.
Christian beliefs and practices.
Buddhist beliefs and practices.
Our aim is for students to understand and evaluate key ethical dilemmas that people
in the world face today and form their own opinions about how people should behave,
as well as apply religious perspectives to these issues.
Topics Covered
In Year 11, students are taught the content and exam skills of four themes and the
application of religion to the issues.
Religion crime and punishment
Religion conflict, peace, and justice
Religion and life
Religion and human rights
This demanding course aims to enhance your ability to analyse issues, question
received assumptions and develop clear and logical reasoning skills through
engagement with philosophical texts, discussion, and essay writing. You will learn what
great thinkers of the past and present have said about life’s big issues and evaluate
them in critical essays.
In Year 12, students are taught the content and exam skills on the following topics:
Epistemology – What are the sources and limits of human knowledge? Can we know
anything for certain?
Moral Philosophy - Are moral values purely subjective? On what basis should we seek
to justify our moral values?
More detail on the A level curriculum
This demanding course aims to enhance your ability to analyse issues, question
received assumptions and develop clear and logical reasoning skills through
engagement with philosophical texts, discussion and essay writing. You will learn what
great thinkers of the past and present have said about life’s big issues and evaluate
them in critical essays.
In Year 13, students are taught the content and exam skills on the following topics:
Metaphysics of God - Does God exist? Is it possible to prove or disprove the existence
of God?
Metaphysics of Mind – What is the nature and origin of human consciousness? Are our
thoughts biologically predetermined?
A level Philosophy specification
Philosophy A level revision resources
