Robert Pepper
Acting Deputy Headteacher 
email

Head of Department

Please email Robert Pepper if you need to make an enquiry about RS.

Curriculum Time

RS is a compulsory subject that is studied in all years. In addition students can study GCSE RS, taught by Mr Pepper. 

Class Groupings

In Key Stage 3 students are grouped according to their technology sets. In Year 9, 10 and 11 students are taught RS in their English sets. GCSE RS is a mixed ability group. 

GCSE Specification

GCSE students follow the AQA Religious Studies A course. 

Departmental Ethos

Religious Studies is a rigorous and demanding academic discipline in its own right. It engenders critical thinking and rigour in the search for truths in uncertain fields. It encourages philosophical thought, decision making skills, collaboration and independent working skills and the search for compromise and conflict resolutions that work. It creates opportunities for young people to develop their skills of dialogue, interpretation and analysis in a coherent context. All these are vital skills in a modern workforce where communication, collaboration and cooperation are core skills.

Religious Studies has a multidisciplinary nature, involving textual study, philosophical thinking, ethics, social understanding and the skills of analysis and reasoning developing core skills of literacy. It makes a key and unique contribution to understanding British heritage, plurality, values and futures. It provides an excellent opportunity for young people to engage with contemporary contentious issues, developing social, cultural, political, philosophical and historical awareness.

In Religious Studies pupils learn to respect themselves and understand their own identity, to respect others, and to understand their own and others’ rights and responsibilities. At a time when communities are becoming more diverse there is an even greater need for a more religiously literate and tolerant society. Religious Studies plays a key role in creating social cohesion and generating genuine understanding between communities reducing friction, intolerance and social unrest.

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

At Key Stage 4, GCSE students visit a synagogue and a church.