RE | Sjfhs

RE Department

Staffing

Mr B Trevelyan - Head Of Department

Mrs E Pender - Second In Department

Miss B Nicholls - Teacher Of Re

Miss A Stead - Head Of Year, Teacher Of Re

Mrs L Pemberton - Teacher Of Re

Vision

The philosophy of the Religious Education department is one born out of the school mission statement:
“Learning Together as a Community in Christ”
Religious Education is at the heart of the Catholic school. While the school, in all aspects of its life, is involved in the formation of its pupils, Religious Education has a lead role in the academic and spiritual development of all pupils.
The Religious Education department in St John Fisher strives to:
– use Christ as a model for our personal behaviour, treating every individual with love, respect and fairness.
– establish a framework within which self-discipline can develop and self-esteem can be fostered
– ensure pupils are well-rounded citizens when they leave St. John Fisher with a knowledge of social justice, morals and an ability to understand the variety of people in the world today

Learning and Teaching

The department aims to:
– provide wide-ranging and appropriate learning opportunities for pupils of all abilities, so that they can develop their talents in a secure, happy and stimulating environment.
– encourage respect for religious and moral values, an understanding of the teaching of the Catholic Church, and an attitude of tolerance and understanding of other religions, races and ways of life.
– help pupils to understand the world in which they live and foster an awareness of their responsibilities towards others in their local, national and global community.
– encourage pupils to acquire knowledge and skills relevant to adult life and employment in a rapidly changing world.

The department has four teaching rooms each equipped with a computer and interactive whiteboards. There is also a bank of laptops that are useful and necessary for research projects and extended learning.

Enriching learning

The Religious Education department offers a range of enrichment opportunities for students.

We hold a Year Nine Holocaust day where the students learn from a Jewish guest speaker about what it was like to experience persecution and racism during World War Two.

The Year Ten students take part in a ‘Life Conference’ day where they learn about the sanctity of life and discuss current issues such as contraception and abortion.

The department also offers a trip to Holland for both Year Nine and Ten pupils; this gives them the chance to visit key sites relating to the persecution of the Jewish community from memorials, concentration camps and also the house of Anne Frank.

Assessment

The Religious Education department feels that it is very important for pupils to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to prepare them for GCSE. We study AQA Religious Studies specification B. All Key Stage 3 end of unit tests are in the style of the AQA GCSE style questions to ensure that pupils have developed their exam technique and skills in preparation for their examination at the end of year 11. Pupils will study a topic and will be assessed during the topic through the work in their books and the end of unit test. Their books will contain a variety of ways to demonstrate their understanding of the learning to suit their learning style and ability in which they are marked consistently and pupils are given an opportunity to respond to the feedback given by the teachers.
Pupils will start to learn the GCSE topics in year 9 and will complete a mid-unit and end of unit test for every topic during years 9,10 and 11. This allows the pupils to gain experience of sitting formal assessments and for the department to monitor and track the progress of the pupils and facilitate early support strategies that may be needed.