Religious Education
Learning about Religious Education is important because it:
- Develops pupils' knowledge and understanding of religion, religious beliefs, practices and traditions and their influence on individuals, communities, societies and cultures.
- Enables pupils to consider and respond to a range of important questions related to their own spiritual development, the development of values and attitudes and fundamental questions concerning the meaning and purpose of life.
- Is an essential component of a broad and balanced education.
- Promotes critical thinking skills and consideration of alternative viewpoints.
- Is concerned with the deep meaning that individuals and groups make of their experiences and how this helps them give purpose to their lives.
- Provides opportunities to explore, make and respond to the meanings of those experiences in relation to the beliefs and experiences of others as well as to one's own experiences.
At PACA our learning journey in Religious Education involves:Learning about key beliefs from within the world religions; Exploring ultimate questions through critical thinking approaches; Debating moral issues and developing our ability to express our point of view with reasons; Listening to and developing understanding of viewpoints different from our own; and gaining an understanding of how religious and non-religious viewpoints can impact peoples’ actions and the world around us.
In Year 7 we begin the Religious Education curriculum by looking at broad concepts including What is religion? Why are people religious? What is Belief? How does religion impact? Signs of Faith and Does life have a purpose?
Students go on to look at a range of religious festivals including Diwali, Hanukkah, Advent and Christmas.
You can view more details of our Religious Education curriculum here and a plan of our term's activities here.
You can also see our teachers' open evening presentations below:
Ethics/ Religious Education GCSE
Students are able to take Ethics (Religious education) as a GCSE at PACA. On this course they learn about a range of the major world religions and six contemporary ethical themes ensuring that students have a diverse choice of intriguing subjects to explore.
Students will be challenged with questions about belief, values, meaning, purpose and truth, enabling them to develop their own attitudes towards religious issues. Students will also gain an appreciation of how religion, philosophy and ethics form the basis of our culture. They will develop analytical and critical thinking skills, the ability to work with abstract ideas, leadership and research skills. All these skills will support them and develop skills for further study. 
