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Philosophy, Religion and Ethics

PRE Mission Statement

As a department, we feel it to be vital to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the world around them.  We live in a culturally diverse society, and we see it as our duty to enlighten our students about the varying cultural and religious differences.  We also feel it to be imperative to allow our students to develop and form their own opinions of the world through critically engaging with the world around them and reflecting upon their own values and beliefs.

OUR CURRICULUM

Philosophy, Religion & Ethics is taught through:

PRE lessons at KS3 explore life’s big questions, encouraging pupils to be curious and questioning, delving deep into religious and philosophical dilemmas. 

Optional GCSE and optional A Level.  Both follow the OCR specification with a focus on Christianity and Islam at GCSE and Christianity at A Level.

KS4 still has Core PRE, with year 9 having weekly lessons continuing to explore philosophical and ethical themes, as well as drop down days in year 10. The whole school engages more widely through services on Remembrance Day, at Christmas and Easter, as well as on Founders Day. Both within the department and wider school we take time to engage with Holocaust Memorial Week and Interfaith Week, both provide us with the opportunity to reflect and grow in our school values of integrity, kindness, and individuality.

Statutory Philosophy, Religion & Ethtics

Statutory PRE occurs through:

Year 7 & 8
Through weekly PRE lessons.

Year 9
Optional GCSE PRE
Lecture on Harry Bibring by Michael Bibring

Form times
Spring 1 (human responsibilities & values), Summer 2 (sources of wisdom)

Creativity & Culture Curriculum
Term 1 - one hour lecture featuring sources of wisdom and term 4 six hours ‘Responsibilities and Values, myself and others’.

PRE drop down days
Spring 1 (The Holocaust), Summer 2 (Medical ethics)


Year 10
 Optional GCSE PRE
Ethics & debate week

Form times
Spring 1 (The Holocaust), Summer 2 (medical ethics)


Year 11
Optional GCSE PRE

A Level
Optional A Level PRE
Sixth Form Le
cture Programme

Key Stage 3

In year 7 students study three topics. Beginning the year with philosophy in the autumn, and exploring concepts of self and meaning. Followed by ethics in the spring, and expressions of faith in the summer. 

Students begin the year by being taught the concept of world-view and being asked to analyse and express their own. These are introductory units to Religion, Philosophy & Ethics that give students a flavour of what PRE is like in secondary school.    This gives them a grounding for year 8.  

The design of year 8 follows a similar path to year 7. Philosophy in the autumn, ethics in the spring, and expressions of faith in the summer. Students are exploring ideas and concepts in more detail and complexity from year 7.This gives them a grounding for the year 9 introductory course as well as the Core PRE programme that all students do

Key Stage 4

In year 9, we study four topics in the autumn and spring terms, truth, knowledge and meaning; religion, identity and resistance; and, reading sacred scriptures. These topics give students the critical thinking skills that they will need to succeed at GCSE.
We still want to develop the breadth of the curriculum at the start of year 9 so therefore we begin the full GCSE toward the end of the spring term. We begin with Christian beliefs as it gives them the foundations they will need for paper 3 (Philosophy, Ethics & Religion)


In year 10, students complete the Christianity paper, the Islam paper (paper 2) and in March they begin their Philosophy, Ethics & Christianity paper (paper 6). We begin paper 6 half way through year 10 as the paper is not only more demanding in terms of higher order skills, but also students have to have a basic understanding of Christianity before they can delve into Philosophy & Ethics.

In year 11 students will complete the last two units of the Philosophy Religion & Ethics paper (paper 6). They then begin their revision of all three exams from the middle of March.  This gives them the opportunity to review material from all three papers as well as to prepare for as many exam questions as possible.  By the end of year 11, students have a detailed grasp of Christianity, Islam and four philosophy & ethics topics which then give them the foundations for A Level (we also OCR at A Level)

Key Stage 5

 

Most (but not all) students who study A Level PRE have previously studied GCSE PRE with the same exam board.  The GCSE has given the students the foundations that they will then build on at A Level.

In year 12 students study for paper 1 (Philosophy) & paper 2 (Ethics).  Each paper is taught by a separate member of staff. By teaching Philosophy & Ethics in year 12, we engage the students early and their passion for the subject grows further.  This also ensures that we have just one paper (Developments in Christian Thought paper 3) to complete in year 13, therefore giving time for revision.   In addition, this allows them to understand the concepts which are developed by thinkers covered by the DCT paper.

By the end of year 12, students have a secure knowledge of Philosophy & Ethics, some of which they will use when completing paper 3 (Developments in Christian Thought). This exam is taught in year 13 as it involves the use of primary sources as well as higher order thinking skills. Students finish the delivery of the paper by mid March, which gives roughly eight weeks in lessons to revise material and plan for potential exam questions.

By the end of year 13, students have a secure knowledge of Philosophy, Ethics & Christianity, which many of them go on to use at the undergraduate level.

Exams & Assessment

GCSE

Examination Board: OCR

A Level
Examination Board: OCR

Formal Assessment 

Outlined below is the department formal structure for monitoring students progress.  In addition to this, we employ a number of assessments for learning processes including retrieval and interleaving throughout the year.

 

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 

Year 7

Behaviour and attitude marks only

End of term test.  

 

End of term test

Exam

 

Year 8

Behaviour and attitude marks only

 

End of unit test.  

 

End of unit test 

End of year exam 

Year 9

 Behaviour and attitude marks only

End of unit test. 

End of unit test. 

 

End of year exam

Year 10 

Christian practices

 

Muslim beliefs

 

Muslim practices 

 

End of year exam 

Year 11 

Peace and justice

 

Peace and justice

 

Mock exam

Dialogues 

 

Public exams 

Year 12 Philosophy

Language

God

 

Mock exam

UCAS exams

Year 12 ethics

Normative ethics

Ethical theories

 

Mock exam

UCAS exams 

Year 13 

  • Insights· 
  • Foundations 
  •  Living  
  • Developments

Mock exams

 

Public exams 

 

Enrichment & Extra-curricular

There are numerous religious and cultural societies in the school. These clubs include Jewish Society, Islamic Awareness Society, Sikh Society, Hindu Society and Christian Union. There is also a Philosophy Society run by sixth form students.

The department organises a number of annual trips such as:

  • Year 7 visit to Watford Synagogue
  • Year 8 visit to Watford Gurdwara
  • Year 9 trip to the Imperial War Museum
  • Year 9 talk by Michael Bibring, son of Harry Bibring
  • Year 10 visit to Watford Mosque and St Mary’s Church
  • Year 10 in-class visits by local Imam and Vicar
  • Years 9 – 12 residential to Paris (bi annual)
  • 6th form A Level seminar with Birmingham University

Resources & Reading List

PRE Reading List 

A dedicated interfaith website gives information about our numerous faith societies at Watford Grammar School for Boys as well as how students can practice their own faith at school:

​Faith @ WBGS Website

Support for Year 12 Students

How should you be spending your free periods?