“We listen to others to discover what we ourselves believe.” George Grant
The Religious Studies department encourages an academic and objective study of religion, making no assumptions about a pupil’s knowledge of, or adherence to, any religious tradition.
Upper 3 (Year 7) provides a basic introduction to the world’s six major religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism), and a study of their founders or key figures. We study the holy books of the six religions, especially the Jewish Bible (Christian Old Testament), supported by a visit to a synagogue, where members explain some aspects of the Jewish faith. In Lower 4 (Year 8 ) we study pilgrimage and worship in different religions, including visits to churches, a gurdwara (Sikh), and a mandir (Hindu), before going on the look at some of their rites of passage. In Upper 4 (Year 9) we learn about some of the main beliefs and practices of Islam, and we visit two mosques in Leeds. We then focus on the life and teachings of Jesus and the development of Christianity, which gives us the opportunity to discuss a number of contemporary moral issues.
The GCSE course embraces a variety of philosophical and ethical topics, including philosophical arguments for the existence of God, reasons for behaving morally, the Problem of Evil, the challenge of science to religion, abortion, euthanasia, world poverty, war, criminal justice, and racial prejudice. In the summer we spend a day visiting the Beth Shalom Holocaust Education Centre in Nottinghamshire.
The A level course expands the study of philosophy and ethics to include both religious and secular perspectives, including the ideas of the great philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Bentham, Mill, and Hume. We attend A level lecture conferences at a university as part of the course.