Miss Sarah Zettel – Assistant Headteacher: Director Leading Raising Achievement / Head of RE – Miss Zettel has taught at the school for 19 years. She has been Head of Department for the last 11 years – and has seriously raised the profile of RE within the school. All students in years 9-11 complete a GCSE module of RS each year. She also examines for AQA so that she knows exactly what the examiner’s are looking for and can guide the students as to how they can answer the question appropriately.


Miss Lizzy Warren – Part time RE/Music teacher: Miss Warren has taught in the school for 2 years now, and teaches all year groups. She also teaches Music and is an awesome African Drummer :)





Miss Susan Dutton – Full time RE teacher : Miss Dutton has taught in the school for 2 years now, and teaches all year groups. She also teaches General Studies.

Mr Michael Pierson – Part time RE/History teacher: Mr Pierson has joined the school this year and is already settling in well. He teaches KS3 and KS4.

All students follow an RE curriculum throughout their time at The Joseph Rowntree School. It is an interesting subject with plenty of opportunity for students to discuss their feelings and beliefs, and ask ultimate questions.

In year 7 students study the following:

·         Why we study RE – for students to gain an understanding of the importance of RE

·         Ourselves as significant people – to think about why we are all important and to understand the idea that we are all unique and that life is a gift

·         An introduction to Hinduism – particularly looking at worship, gods and goddesses and rites of passage - to students a basic understanding of the beliefs of Hinduism.

·         Who is Jesus? Particularly focusing on Holy Week – so that students know and understand who Jesus was and what happened at Easter – and how that has shaped the Christian Church.

·         Religions in York – for students to have an understanding of the religions around them and how they have affected the way York has grown as a city.

In year 8 students study the following:

·         Why we study RE – for students to develop their understanding of the importance of RE

·         Values – looking at influences, consequences and dilemmas – so that students can understand what we do affects other people and the situations that we are in – and thinking about the way religions teach their followers to behave.

·         Racial prejudice – looking at the Good Samaritan – to gain an understanding of what racial prejudice is, and what the Bible teaches about it

·         Anne Frank – for students to research the life of Anne Frank – so that they have an understanding of what happened to her and to begin to understand the impact of the Holocaust.

·         Holocaust project – students to complete an piece of independent study on the Holocaust – with useful information being given in the lessons – and students have a period of time (approx 6 weeks) to complete a presentation on the Holocaust

·         Communication – how and why we communicate – understanding the need to communicate

·         An introduction to Buddhism – looking at the life of Buddha, the Four Noble truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and meditation

·         An introduction to Sikhism – looking at the 10 Gurus, the Khalsa and the 5 K’s, worship and the gurdwara.

In year 9 students follow the AQA Religious Studies syllabus B module 40555 – Religious Expression in Society, and they are examined at the end of year 9. They study the following:

·         What is spirituality? – to gain an understanding of what spirituality is and the effect that it has on people’s lives

·         How religion is expressed through art – looking at paintings, statues, icons, calligraphy and graffiti – gaining an understanding of how and why people express themselves in this way and how people can gain an understanding of religion through them.

·         How religion is expressed through architecture – looking at monuments, statues, graveyard architecture, places of worship and edifices - gaining an understanding of how and why people express themselves in this way and how people can gain an understanding of religion through them.

·         How religion is expressed through literature – looking at Holy Books, Religious teachings, fiction and poetry - gaining an understanding of how and why people express themselves in this way and how people can gain an understanding of religion through them.

·         How religion is expressed through media – looking at TV, internet, newspapers, magazines  - gaining an understanding of how and why people express themselves in this way and how people can gain an understanding of religion through them. Students also gain an understanding of censorship and blasphemy.

·         How religion is expressed through music – looking at why people listen to music and the different and how music is used through hymns, scripture set to music, chanting and contemporary music - gaining an understanding of how and why people express themselves in this way and how people can gain an understanding of religion through them.

In year 10 students follow the AQA Religious Studies syllabus B module 40552 – Religion and Life Issues and are examined at the end of year 10. They study the following – through the religions of Christianity and Islam

·         Religion and animal rights – looking at how important animals are to us and how we treat them. We think about whether animal experimentation is right and look at what religions teach about how animals should be treated.

·         Religion and planet earth – We look at how the earth came into existence, and we think about the way we treat the earth now, and the problems that exist. We look at what religions teach about the way that we should treat the environment.

·         Religion and prejudice – We understand what is meant by prejudice and discrimination and the effects of discrimination; we look at the work of key religious believers to stop prejudice. We think about what religions teach about the way that we should treat others.

·         Religion and early life – we think about why people have children. We then look at the idea of abortion – and think about why people may choose to be for or against abortion – understanding the ideas of pro-choice and pro-life. We look at the quality of life argument and think about what religions teach about abortion.

·         Religion and young people – we study and understand the different birth ceremonies and ceremonies of commitment that are used within religions. We think about how young people relate to society, and the rights that they have. We think about their attitudes to school and the place of RE in schools and the way young people deal with religion.

In year 11 students follow the AQA Religious Studies syllabus B module 40554 – Religious Philosophy and Ultimate Questions and are examined at the end of year 11. They study the following – through the religions of Christianity and Islam.

·         The Existence of God - examining the different arguments as to whether God exists or not.

·         The problem of evil and suffering – understanding the different types of evil and deciding whether they stop people from believing in God. Understanding suffering and responding to the suffering of others.

·         Immortality – looking at mind body and soul, and the ideas about life after death. Students aim to come to an understanding of why people want to be immortal and consider the religious arguments for life after death.

·         Miracles – what do we mean by miracles? What evidence has there been of miracles, and examples of miracles in history and from experience. Students also study David Hume’s ideas about miracles.

·         Science and religion – thinking about scientific and historical truth; considering the origins of the universe and studying the Genesis creation story – and thinking about whether science or religion is right, or whether it is a mixture of both. We also look at evolution and consider whether we are created or have evolved.

In year 12 students follow the AQA Religious Studies AS studying Philosophy and Ethics. The Ethics module is taught from September to January, and students take their first exam in January and then the complete the Philosophy module, which is examined in June.

For the Ethics module, students study:

·         Utilitarianism - The general principles of Utilitarianism: the greatest happiness principle; consequential or teleological thinking in contrast to deontological thinking; Bentham’s Utilitarianism, the hedonic calculus; Mill’s Utilitarianism, quality over quantity; Act and Rule utilitarianism; The application of Bentham’s and Mill’s principles to one ethical issue of the candidate’s choice apart from abortion and euthanasia

·         Situation Ethics - The general principles of Situation Ethics: the middle way between legalism and antinomianism; the idea of situation; conscience – what it is and what it is not; the emphasis on making moral decisions rather than following rules; Fletcher’s six fundamental principles and the understanding of Christian love; Fletcher’s four presumptions: pragmatism, contextual relativism, positivism, personalism; The application of Situation Ethics to one ethical issue of the candidate’s choice apart from abortion and euthanasia

·         Religious perspectives on the nature and value of human life (with particular reference to at least one religion) - Nature of humanity and the human condition: what it means to be human; Fatalism and free will: to what extent human beings are able to influence their own life and destiny; Equality and difference: religious teaching about equality with particular reference to race, gender and disability; The value of life: religious teachings about the value of life with; particular reference to the quality of life, self-sacrifice and nonhuman life including the relative importance of human and nonhuman life

Abortion and euthanasia -

Abortion: definitions for the start of human life and their relevance to the abortion debate, including: potentiality, conception, primitive streak, viability, birth
 

– The value of potential life – differing views

– Mother’s versus child’s interests, double effect

– Ethical issues involved in legislation about abortion

Euthanasia: active or passive, voluntary, involuntary and nonvoluntary
 

– Ethical issues involved in legislation about euthanasia; issues concerning quality of life and their relevance to the euthanasia debate

– The role of hospices and palliative care (as alternatives to euthanasia); Arguments for and against abortion and euthanasia with reference; to religious and ethical teachings

 

For the nature and value of human life, abortion and euthanasia, students should be able to apply the theories of utilitarianism and situation ethics to each of these situations.

 

For the philosophy module, students study:

·         The cosmological argument

·         Religious experience

·         Psychology and religion

·         Atheism and postmodernism

 

Each module is examined by a paper of 1 hour 15 minutes – where students will answer questions on 2 topics.

 

In year 13 students study the AQA Religious Studies A2 completing two Philosophy modules. Both modules are examined in June and the students have a paper of 1 hour 30 minutes on the Philosophy module and students have to complete 2 questions, and 1 hour 30 minutes on Life after Death where students have to complete 1 question.

 

For the Philosophy of Religion module, students study the following topics:

•        The ontological argument and the relationship between reason and faith - Understanding of the ontological argument as presented by Anselm and Descartes; Understanding of the key objections to the ontological argument based on: the definition of God; existence as a predicate of God; the possibility of deriving existential claims from definition; Responses to those objections; The relationship between faith and reason reflected in the ontological argument, and the value of the argument for faith

·         Religious language - The problems of religious language – meaningfulness and the verification and falsification principles; Responses to the verification principle, including language as an expression of a ‘blik’ (R.M. Hare) and eschatological verification (Hick); Different views of religious language: religious language as analogical and symbolic; language games; religious language as non-cognitive

·         Body, soul and personal identity - The nature and existence of the soul and the body/soul relationship – differing views; Personal identity and the possibility of continued personal existence; after death – immortality, resurrection, rebirth, reincarnation and replica theory;  Nature of Near Death Experiences and their value as evidence of survival beyond death

·         The problem of evil - The concept of evil (natural and moral) and the logical and evidential problem of evil; Religious responses to the problem of evil. Credit will be given for relevant knowledge of any theodicy, but candidates are expected to be familiar with the following:
 

– the main themes of theodicies in the Augustinian tradition

– the free will defence

– John Hick’s ‘vale of soul making’ theodicy (from the Irenaean tradition); responses to evil in process thought

 

For the Life After Death module, students study the following topics:

•        Religious and secular perspectives on the nature and value of human life

•        Religious – Nature: e.g. created by God, not perfect, redeemable, dualistic; and/or non-theistic perspectives

– Value: e.g. in the image of God, life is a gift from God, highest element in creation; and/or non- theistic perspectives

•        Secular – Nature: another animal, one aspect of evolution, mortal

– Value: responsible for preservation of environment, each human is of equal value

•        Eschatological and apocalyptic, religious and secular teaching and attitudes, can all be treated together as teaching and attitudes towards the future, especially the end. Within a religious context there are examples of teaching in scriptures; apocalyptic is often associated with scripture in some hidden or coded form. Secular interests in ‘the end of the world’ or time signs and indications of when this might be

•        Religious and secular ideas about the importance of the present life and life after death. Religious views often focused around judgement, either imposed or self-imposed with idea that life on earth is a stage in human existence. Secular view that there is only one life and that is on earth, but this may not lead to egotistical view; view that life after death does not give life on earth a purpose

•        Beliefs about death and beyond, both religious and non-religious. Death sometimes seen as the end; there is nothing beyond; sometimes seen as the end of the present being but with elements moving beyond death, a stage in the existence of a human – a rite of passage. Beyond, a spiritual world, a world which is in suspension awaiting something, a parallel existence either bodily or not, an existence with God; a transition back to another existence; continuity of personal identity