RS Department

Miss N Steer - Head of Department - nas@bws.wilts.sch.uk

Mr J Browning - Religious Studies Teacher - jgb@bws.wilts.sch.uk

Ms B Kaur - Religious Studies Teacher - bks@bws.wilts.sch.uk

Year 7

Year 7 pupils begin by exploring what it means to be human and how humans express identity and spirituality. They look at different expressions of Christianity and produce an extended piece of work based on Salisbury Cathedral.
The next unit of work asks the question ‘what is truth?’ and considers interpretation of religious texts.
Finally pupils will explore beliefs and practices within Hinduism.

Year 8

Year 8 pupils research different theories relating to morality and in particular study ethical teachings from Buddhism / Christianity and apply them to moral dilemmas facing people today.
The next unit of work explore the relationship between religion and science in the context of the origins of the universe.
Finally pupils will explore beliefs and practices within Islam.

Year 9

In the first term, year 9 pupils study the Jewish faith, particularly focusing on practice and identity. This will lead on to a philosophical examination of arguments for the existence of God and responses to the problem of evil.
From the second term, pupils will begin the Religious Studies GCSE full course (WJEC Eduqas: Route A5: component 3 option 5) which will firstly include a study of Christianity and Sikhism. They will then study ethical themes, which will continue through until the end of year 11.

Year 10 and 11

All pupils in year 10 and 11 are studying for a full course in Religious Studies (WJEC Eduqas: Route A5: component 3 option 5) with the examination at the end of year 11.
The content of the course includes:

• Component 1: Religious, Philosophical and Ethical studies in the Modern World (50%) 2 hour exam
  Theme 1: Issues of Relationships
  Theme 2: Issues of Life and Death
  Theme 3: Issues of Good and Evil
  Theme 4: Issues of Human Rights
• Component 2: Study of Christianity (25%) 1 hour exam
  Beliefs, teachings and practices of Christianity
• Component 3: Study of Sikhism (25%) 1 hour exam
  Beliefs, teachings and practices of Sikhism

Year 12 and 13

Our current year 12 pupils are studying WJEC Eduqas Religious Studies A level consisting of:

• Philosophy of Religion
• Ethical studies
• The study of Religion: Christianity

In year 7 pupils explored the religious symbolism of Salisbury Cathedral and offered their response to this magnificent building on our doorstep.

Last year we also made use of the building taking boys from years eight and nine to visit the Chapter house as the Monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monestry created a sand mandala over many days.

The year eight pupils also conducted an environmental audit to share with our partner school in Ladakh and also provided the school’s eco council with some valuable data the current year eights will also conduct an audit and see how well we have progressed on our aims.

Year 8 pupils will be visiting a Hindu Mandir to examine the beliefs and worship expressed as the community prepares for Divali.

Once again the year ten pupils impressed Tim Gibson, an academic from Exeter who led a day on examining ‘proofs’ for and against the existence of God. This year as before the high calibre of student presentations were judged by a panel of our year 12 Philosophy and Ethics students.

We are also most grateful for the parents and other willing volunteers who offered their services to the year ten Multi Faith Day. It is always impressive how much the boys take away from the opportunity to engage in a question and answer session with the brave speakers who give us their time and are prepared to be grilled by our wonderfully curious students.

The Long course G.C.S.E group once again visited Gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) in Southampton, the year 11 students displaying their expert knowledge to the year 10 students. After experiencing some worship they were welcomed to partake of a vegetarian meal as is the custom, this was followed by participating in the act of sewa (selfless service) by cleaning and washing the dishes in the kitchen.

The Philosophy and Ethics group once again went to a national conference led by Peter and Charlotte Vardy.

The Philosophical Reading Society explored a variety of texts, extracts, articles and film clips. This included thinkers as diverse as Aristotle, Benatar and a film by Zizek. During the year students took turns to offer articles or excerpts of various types to the group for discussion.

A number of year twelve students were selected for the Relink project whereby they were trained by two nationally recognised educational advisors which enabled them to teach lessons in primary schools, working collaboratively with the primary class teachers.

We also welcomed Sonam Gyaltsen to the department as part of the British Council Connecting Classrooms project and he was a great asset, as he taught a number of lessons in school, sharing his Buddhist beliefs, teaching us how to make Momos, and singing traditional songs. The boys in the Art department made some spectacular masks inspired by his Tibetan Buddhist beliefs.

Visit from Ladakh - March 2015

Once again we would like to thank our Colleagues from our partner school in Ladakh and the British Council who make our collaboration possible. Our students have had a great time learning dances and cooking some traditional food.
By popular request here are the recipes:
Khura recipe
Mokmok Recipe