The Religious Studies department aims to encourage a deep understanding of other faiths and cultures, and to enable pupils to further develop and justify their own values. There are plenty of opportunities for discussion and debate to voice their own opinions. RS continues to be a popular subject at Malet Lambert, with a significant number of pupils opting to take the GCSE RS course.
The RS department at Malet Lambert teaches RS to all pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9. They receive one lesson a week. Year 7 pupils explore the beliefs and practices of the three Abrahamic faith groups; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Year 8 pupils explore Buddhism, how we challenge prejudice, what happens when we die and whether God exists. Year 9 pupils apply their knowledge and understanding of worldview to ethical questions focusing on issues such as human rights, crime and punishment, the sanctity of life, animal testing, euthanasia and abortion. At the end of the course, pupils study the problem of evil and the response to the Holocaust by Jews and other faith groups.
GCSE RS is an optional subject at KS4. Pupils who opt to study GCSE RS follow the AQA Religious Studies Specification A at GCSE. In Y10 pupils study Theme A: Relationships and Family before moving on to Christian and Buddhist beliefs. At the end of Y10, pupils explore Theme B: Religion and Life. In Y11, pupils start by exploring Theme E: Crime and Punishment before exploring Christian and Buddhist practices. Students finish the course by studying Theme D: Religion, Peace and Conflict.
All pupils in KS4 study Core RS, regardless of options, as part of their Personal Development lessons.
Facilities
The Religious Studies department has outstanding facilities and resources within the school. There are two specialist RS rooms. The GCSE RS course is fully resourced with new textbooks for each of the units of study. The newly updated KS3 curriculum is also complemented with new core texts, including the recently published ‘Understanding the Holocaust: How and why did it happen?’ which supports our revised Holocaust Education curriculum in Y9 History. Pupils also have access to the recently published Oxford Revise Revision Guide. Classrooms have interactive whiteboards and projectors, and staff have access to a wide range of resources including Clickview (videos and documentaries), artefacts, visualizers, and Chromebooks.
Courses
Pupils at KS4 in Year 10 and 11 take the AQA Religious Studies Specification A course. As part of this course they study four themes:
- Theme A: Relationships and Family
- Theme B: Religion and Life
- Theme D: Religion, Peace and Conflict
- Theme E: Crime and Punishment
The two religions of focus for GCSE are Christianity and Buddhism.
Extra Curricular
The department offers several activities and trips including:
- A Holocaust project club, focusing on the journey of individual family and their experiences
- A communities project club
- Outside speakers from different faiths
- Combined trip to London with the History department
- Visits to Hull Reform Synagogue