Curriculum Intent
“The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder”
- Jostein Gaarder in Sophie’s World
Our ambition is to give students a broad understanding of religious and non-religious beliefs about key philosophical and ethical issues. We aim to develop individual beliefs and values and equip them to live in a diverse community in accordance with Fundamental British Values. This includes developing empathy for others, evaluation of their own beliefs and preparing our young people to have open, informed and respectful discussion about the world around them.
Our RPE curriculum has been designed to enable our learners to:
- reflect upon the religious and non-religious communities of which they are part of.
- develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the six major world religions and non-religious beliefs, such as atheism.
- develop students’ knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, and sources of wisdom and authority. This includes reading the scriptures of the religions they are studying and other religious and philosophical scholarly texts.
- develop students’ ability to construct well-argued, well-informed, balanced and structured written arguments, demonstrating their depth and breadth of understanding of the subject
- provide opportunities to debate contemporary ethical issues and develop empathy for other points of view
- provide opportunities for students to engage with questions of belief, value, meaning, purpose, truth, and their influence on human life
- challenge students to reflect on and develop their own values, beliefs and attitudes in the light of what they have learnt and contribute to their preparation for adult life in a pluralistic society and global community