The Humanities curriculum at Wallingford School aims to:

  • Enable students to find their place in the world and make informed decisions about the future by considering the past
  • Develop students’ skills in literacy, numeracy, problem solving, verbal communication as well building tolerance and empathy
  • Encourage students to reach the highest possible standards through in-depth studies and academic rigour

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KS3 Religious Studies

Year 7

Term 1 & 2 - Religious Truth

Within this unit students will consider and evaluate the different ‘truths’ of religion such as science vs religion, creation stories and religious leaders such as Jesus and Mohammad.

Term 3 & 4 - Sikhism

Students wil gain an in depth knowledge about how the Sikh religion started, the founder of Sikhism and what it means to be a Sikh and how it affects their lives.

Term 5 - Inspirational People of Faith

This unit looks at different people of faith who have made an impact in the world and been an inspiration to others such as Martin Luther King, Ghandi and Mother Teresa.

Term 6 - Hinduism

Students will gain an understanding of how Hindus worship, why they worship and how it affects their lives. This includes beliefs in life after death, the caste system and beliefs about God.

Year 8

Term 1 & 2- Prejudice and Discrimination

This unit focuses on why there is prejudice and discrimination in the world and what can be done to overcome it. Topics we look at include; the holocaust, Rwanda and Islamophobia.

Term 3 & 4 - Ultimate Questions

In this unit students will consider ‘big’ issues such as ‘is there a life after death?’ ‘Why do people suffer?’ and Plato’s cave.

Term 5 & 6 - Inspirational People of Faith

This unit looks at different people of faith who have made an impact in the world and been an inspiration to others such as Martin Luther King, Ghandi and Mother Teresa.

Year 9

Term 1 & 2 - Humanism

In this unit students will look at the non-religious world view of humanism, including their beliefs, campaigns and how they make moral decisions.

Term 3 & 4- Religious Moral and Ethical Issues

Within this unit students will be able to debate moral and ethical issues such as situation ethics, utilitarianism, organ transplantation and cloning.

Term 5 & 6 - Buddhism: Human Rights and Social Justics

In this unit students will get a chance to consider Buddhist views on key issues such as religious freedom, the rights of women and poverty and wealth.

GCSE Religious Studies

Year 10

Term 1 - Religion Crime and Punishment

Looks at religious views on crime and punishment including capital punishment, the causes of crime and the aims of punishment.

Term 2 - Islamic Beliefs

Looks at different beliefs within Islam. These include the nature of God, the Six Articles of Faith, day of judgement and Muslim beliefs about life after death.

Term 3 - Islamic Practices

Focuses on the different practices within Islam such as where Muslims worship, duties and festivals.

Term 4 - Religion and Life

Focuses on the origins of life, creation, abortion, euthanasia and fertility treatment.

Term 5 - Relationships and Families

Students will consider religious attitudes towards contraception, sex before and after marriage, divorce and the nature of families.

Term 6 - Religion Peace and Conflict

Looks at religious attitudes towards terrorism, use of violence during conflict and the ‘just war’ theory.

Year 11

Term 1 - Christian Beliefs

Looks at Christian views on the nature of God, the holy trinity, Jesus’ life and death and how Jesus’ teachings affect Christians today.

Term 2 - Christian Practices

Explores the practices of Christians, including worship and prayer, sacraments, festivals and church growth in the wider community

Term 3 & 4 - Revision

A Level Philosophy

Year 12

Term 1 - What is Knowledge?

Understanding and defining the nature of knowledge.

Term 2 - Perception as a Source of Knowledge / Limits of Knowledge

How we perceive material objects in the world including direct and indirect realism. Evaluating the limits of knowledge and dealing with scepticism and its objections.

Term 3 - Mid and end of term examination

Term 4 - Moral Philosophy

Evaluating theories such as utilitarianism, deontological ethics and applied Kantian ethics.

Term 5 - Aristotelian Virtue Ethics

Explore issues with Aristotle and his ideas on virtues, vices and moral responsibility.

Term 6 - Meta Ethics

Explore moral realism and moral anti-realism, including cognitivist theories such as Mackie’s error theory.

Year 13

Terms 1 & 2 - The Concept and Nature of God and the Arguments Relating to the Existence of God

Evaluating the different attributes of God and analysing the different arguments for God's existence such as Ontological arguments, teleological arguments and cosmological arguments.

Term 3 - Religious Language

This includes exploring cognitivist, empiricist and logical positivist views on religious language.

Term 4 - Metaphysics of Mind

Exploring a range of views about the theories of the mind including substance and property dualism.