Religious Studies
Department Ethos
Never stop asking ‘why?’ It is a fascinating question, and often the hardest to answer. Other subjects are very good at ‘how?’ or ‘where?’ ‘when?’ or even ‘who?’ In the Religious Studies Department ‘why?’ is our speciality, although we are very good at the other questions too!
At Cams Hill School the Religious Studies Department seeks to develop the enquiring mind, both to enthuse pupils and to stretch their abilities to engage with the world around them through an enquiry based methodology set out by the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus.
Religious Studies aims to challenge pupils by asking demanding questions such as: ‘What is the value of a human life?’ ‘Why am I here?’ ‘What beliefs do you have and can you justify them?’ ‘Why do some people use their beliefs to promote a better world?’ And ‘Why do others work to the detriment of it?’ By basing our lessons around concepts and contextualising them within religions and situations in the world around us we can help pupils decode the wider world, building a strong personal world view, whilst developing useful and transferrable skills.
“Religious Studies is really good because we get to learn about other religions and their beliefs. We always get a chance to say how we feel and argue points.” – Year 11 Pupil
“I like Religious Studies because of the way that the teachers work the lessons. They make it interesting and engaging, making me want to learn.” – Year 10 Pupil
Learn more about Religious Studies at Key Stage 3
Our aim in Key Stage 3 Religious Studies is to explore a range of religious traditions to build a strong subject knowledge of key religious ideas and concepts. From the Summer Term of Year 8 pupils can then begin to engage in thematic studies and moral and ethical issues and debates, drawing on the layers of knowledge built up in earlier years.
Classes in Key Stage 3 are usually of 30 pupils. In Year 7, pupils are taught in tutor groups, then in Years 8 and 9 are taught in mixed groups within a year half.
All our Key Stage 3 lessons follow the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Studies – Living Difference.
Learn more about Religious Studies at KS4
All pupils at Cams Hill study Religious Studies at GCSE. The course is made of two key components: Beliefs and Practices, and Thematic Studies, each component is contextualised in the Christian and Islamic traditions. There are 4 units of Beliefs and Practices, and 4 units of Thematic Studies. Pupils receive 2 lessons per week of Religious Studies teaching, in group sizes of 23-25 pupils. These classes are of mixed ability, separated only by timetabling bands.
GCSE Details
2016 onwards AQA Religious Studies GCSE (Full Course) is studied by all pupils (Specification A)
Contextualised in the religions of Christianity and Islam
Specification Code: 8062
Assessment: 2 Exams of 1 hour 45 minutes each worth 50% of the final grade.