The intention of the Religious Education curriculum at Weald of Kent grammar school is to develop in our students a deep understanding of the impact that beliefs and religious practices have on the lives of believers. We encourage our students to analyse in depth their own beliefs and actions and consider the ethical arguments surrounding important issues in today’s society. Our students also develop skills of appraisal and critical evaluation, becoming accomplished thinkers who can solve problems and make links between the content they learn and their own lives.

Key stage 3

Year 7

  • Should happiness be the purpose of life?
  • Does religion help people to be good?
  • Why is there suffering?
  • What is so radical about Jesus?
  • What difference does it make to believe in…?  (key religious concepts)
  • Is death the end?

Year 8

  • Where is God? (Pilgrimage in different religions)
  • Can one person make a difference?
  • Is religion a power for peace or conflict?
  • Do we need to prove God's existence?
  • How can people express the spiritual through music and art?
  • What is good/challenging about being a teenage religious person in the UK?

Year 9

  • Christian beliefs
  • Marriage and the family
  • Living the Christian life

Key stage 4

Year 10

  • Matter of life and death
  • Muslim beliefs
  • Crime and Punishment

Year 11

  • Living the Muslim life
  • Peace and conflict
  • Revision

Key stage 5

Year 12

  • Philosophy: Arguments for the existence of God
  • Philosophy: Religious experience
  • Philosophy: The Problem of evil and suffering
  • Ethics: Three ethical theories
  • Ethics: Environmental issues & Equality
  • Ethics: War & Peace, Sexual Ethics
  • New Testament: Background to  Jesus’ life, teachings about Jesus
  • New Testament: Teachings about Jesus in John’s gospel
  • New Testament: Interpreting the text: authorship, purpose biblical criticism and the synoptic problem

Year 13

  • Philosophy: Religious language
  • Philosophy: Works of scholars & critiques of religious belief
  • Philosophy: Life after death
  • Ethics: Ethical language
  • Ethics: The ethics of Kant & Aristotle 
  • Ethics: Medical ethics
  • New Testament: Ways of interpreting scripture
  • New Testament: Luke & John: Kingdom of God, Conflict in the gospels, Crucifixion & resurrection
  • New Testament: The ethics of Jesus & did the resurrection really happen?