World Views and Religious Studies

Intent

In Worldviews we aim to instil a curiosity of the world into every student, developing them into critical thinkers who can confidently question the world they live in. The aim of Worldviews is to give students the opportunity to learn about different cultures, perspectives and philosophies from around the world at present and in the past, which supports the development of students cultural competency and capital. Understanding how worldviews can influence peoples’ actions and behaviour can enable students to reflect on the impact they can have on the society around them. Worldviews is about equipping students with the knowledge, skills and appreciation for life in the 21st Century.

VIDEO: Learn more about Worldviews and Religious Studies at MHS
 

Learning hours

Year group	7	8	9	10	11
Learning hours per week	1	1	1	1	1

Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

At KS3, students are introduced to different religious and world views, to give an insight into how different people think and the beliefs they may hold. In Year 7, students explore different worldviews by understanding what defines religion and culture, using Día de los Muertos as an example. They then examine how religion and culture relate to equality and diversity, discussing discrimination and its large-scale effects, such as the Holocaust. Topics include religious attitudes toward gender roles and the concept of agape. In the Summer Term, students reflect on how actions shape the future, considering the soul, human uniqueness, and Natural Law. They also connect these ideas to Tudor beliefs about the afterlife, linking to the History curriculum. In Year 8, students engage with ethical decision-making concepts, developing their own opinions while understanding differing perspectives. They explore suffering, types of evil, and theodicies that justify God's existence, along with the Just War theory. In the Summer Term, they examine the relationship between religion and science, including conflicts over evolution and theories on the universe’s end. Discussions also cover scientific advancements like designer babies, cloning, and AI. Year 9 integrates Worldviews with Citizenship, focusing on human and animal rights, discrimination, and the death penalty. They analyze religion’s portrayal in the media, addressing indoctrination and blasphemy. In the final term, students begin their GCSE studies with Religion, Peace, and Conflict, exploring justifications for war, holy wars, peaceful protests, and comparisons between Buddhist and Christian beliefs.

At KS4 students will follow AQA Religious Studies where students are required to learn about two religions, Buddhism and Christianity, and two Themes, Religion and Family anf Religion, Peace and Conflict. With Buddhism and Christianity, students will learn about key beliefs and how these beliefs influence a belivers life. They will learn the historical stories behind each religion and then look at how these historical stories have shaped the religion into what it is today. Within the Themes topics, students will need to apply Buddhist and Chrstian beliefs to the different topics including marriage, divorce, gender discrimination, war, violent protests and supporting victims of war. Students will learn how to apply different beliefs and evaluate a variety of attitudes and ideas, formualting their own opinions on each topic.

5 year learning journey

 

Specification

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-8061/specification

 

Our GCSE covers a range of religions and philosophical and ethical themes, ensuring our students have a variety of intriguing subjects to explore.

Students will be challenged with questions about belief, values, meaning, purpose and truth, enabling them to develop their own values and attitudes towards religious issues.

Students will also gain an appreciation of how religion, philosophy and ethics form the basis of our culture. They will develop analytical and critical thinking skills, the ability to work with abstract ideas, leadership and research skills. All these will help prepare them for further study.

Careers

Religious Studies is intellectually exciting because it provides access to the mystery of the other. Religious Studies provides the opportunity to understand, with depth and nuance, the many beliefs and rituals that move persons to appreciate the alternative world of the religious reality. 

Studying theology and world views gives an insight into humanity's history and its present, whilst developing key skills such as critical thinking and analytical writing. The exploration of Theology and Religious Studies will give you the skills to analyse writing, concepts and arguments in a wide range of contexts.

• Lawyer
• Teacher
• Journalist 
• Human Resources
• Childcare
• Social worker
• Charity ambassador
• Religious leader

Links to PSHE

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) enable students to become resilient, independent and responsible members of society. We encourage our students to play a positive role in contributing to the life of the school and the wider community through encouragment to participate in extra curricular opportunities. In so doing we help develop their sense of self-worth. We teach them how society is organised and governed. 

PSHE and worldviews promote students to critically think and actively listen to the opinions of others, which can enable students to develop their own informed ideas and opinions. 

At MHS, PSHE is taught as a discrete subject for 1 hour a week. The PSHE curriculumm is aligned with not only World Views, but English, History, Sociology, Psychology and Science. PSHE  in our school follows the Framework for PSHE, given as non-statutory guidance in the National Curriculum.

The aims of PSHE and worldviews are to enable the children to:

• Know and understand what constitutes a healthy lifestyle
• Be aware of safety issues
• Understand what makes for good relationships with others
• Have respect for others regardless of race, gender and mental and physical disability
• Be independent and responsible members of the school community
• Be positive and active members of a democratic society
• Develop self-confidence and self-esteem and make informed choices regarding personal and social issues
• Develop good relationships with other members of the school and the wider community
• Understand the importance of consent and how to identify a toxic relationship (which is futher supported by the SEMH groups)
• Mental and physical wellbeing 

Extra curricular opportunities

• Debate Club
• Meridian Talks
• Visits to key places of worship 
• Royal Courts of Justice
• Podcasting club

Useful websites to support learning

Crash Course Philosophy on Youtube

Truetube for videos based on religion and philosophy/ethics

The Odyssey by Homer

BBC Bitesize for GCSE revision (can be used by KS3 too).

The Root of all evil by Richard Dawkins