City of London School for Girls

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Religious Studies & Philosophy and Ethics

Religious Studies & Philosophy and Ethics aims to enable pupils to think clearly, honestly and accurately in the field of experience often referred to as religion and belief, and to promote understanding and tolerance among peoples of a variety of faiths and those who have none. We believe that Religous Studies is an essential part of all students’ education because:

It seeks to ask the fundamental questions of life which impact upon humanity.
It prepares students to become full and active members of our modern, multi-cultural society.
It helps students to develop their own beliefs and values.
It exposes students to the ideas of the greatest thinkers our world has ever known and encourages them to develop a critical view of them.
It promotes a respectful and critical tolerance of our differences.
It develops invaluable transferable skills which are demanded for many professions and are necessary for many areas of life.
It provides students with the tools to begin to understand the profound influence religion has had, and continues to have, on our history and culture.

Religious education is an opportunity to explore a vital area of human experience, to examine each other’s cultural roots, to face far reaching questions of right and wrong, and to be exposed to some of the world’s most influential thinkers, it is hard to see how anybody at least half alive could dismiss it as boring or irrelevant.

(Lord Habgood, former Archbishop of York)

Religious Studies & Philosophy and Ethics is focused on fostering good relationships with the local religious communities and arranges several trips and guest speakers throughout the year.

KEY STAGE 3

Religous Studies in Year 7 provides an introduction to the ideas, concepts and skills that are going to be developed during the pupils’ time in the Senior School. Topics include: Ultimate Questions (how to be a philosopher), Christianity and Islam.

Year 8 builds upon the foundations of study that have been laid in Year 7. In particular, we begin to consider the application of a person’s faith to contemporary issues. We also continue our study of world religions. At every point our study uses the pupil’s experience as the starting point, thus enabling her to interpret the world, within her own community. Topics include: Signs and symbols (decoding religion), Hinduism and Buddhism.

Year 9 serves as an introduction to the work that could be continued further in the GCSE papers in Years 10 and 11 and continues to challenges people’s preconceptions of religion and religious studies. Topics include: Prejudice and Religion (breaking taboos), Holocaust and Hollywood, and Crime and Punishment.

GCSE

Students who choose to study Religous Studies come from a variety of religious and non-religious backgrounds, indeed this adds to the vibrancy and energy of our classroom discussions! They are independent thinkers and enjoy the challenge of debating academically on issues of spiritual and/ or moral importance. Girls develop a range of transferable skills including research, creative writing, comprehension and philosophical argument skills.

We currently study Religion and Life (through a study of Christianity) and Judaism. Both subjetcs cover a range of religious and non-religious perspectives, drawing on influences from sociology, history and psychology amongst others. Students will be challenged with questions such as:

Is abortion morally acceptable?
Sex before marriage is okay….or is it?
Religious rules have no relevance in our modern world – or do they?
What is the legacy of the Holocaust?
Are the Jewish Scriptures relevant today?
How important is the land of Israel to the Jewish people today?
What have people done to combat racism and sexual discrimination?

Girls broaden their understanding through lectures from visiting speakers, trips to various places of worship and a multimedia course. If you are interested in working in a professional field such as law, medicine or journalism, you will benefit from gaining a better understanding through Religious Studies.

We study an ethics and philosophy course which means that the course has a lot of variety. Religious Studies has helped me to learn to look at particular issues from a diverse range of views and to understand what a huge part religion plays in the shaping of nations throughout the world.

Lucy

SIXTH FORM: PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS

At Sixth Form level we refer to our course as Philosophy and Ethics. It is an open-ended discipline. The aims of the subject are to explore the diverse value systems of our society by examining the philosophical and political implications of religious and non-religious beliefs. The subject will open doors to a new way of thinking enabling you to simultaneously learn more about the world and about your own ideas and opinions.

LINKS

www.re2go.co.uk