Religious Education
"We are not so much to regard the Ecce, how great it is, as Gaudiam, what joy is in it; that is the point we are to speak to."
Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, OMT, 1568-73, Translator of the King James' Bible
In the School Statutes of 1561 article XXV states, “These shall be taught in the said school children of all nations and countries indifferently”. The RE Department seeks to put into practice this vision of our foundation. It seeks to be a place, which is open, caring, and friendly but also an academic department which stimulates the interest of the boys is religion regardless of their background or experience. Our aims can be summed up in three ways:
- To promote an enquiring, critical and sympathetic approach to the study of religion.
- To introduce pupils to the challenging and varied nature of the religious dimension and the sense of that which is termed “holy”.
- To help pupils to identify, explore and reflect on the various responses to moral and social issues.
- For information about Religious Studies at A level, please click the menu on the left.
Trip to Southwark Cathedral
RE is taught throughout the School. In the III/VIII (Years 7 & 8), the boys follow a course similar to that followed in Prep Schools following the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the 4th Form (Year 9) the boys have an introduction to the Philosophy of Religion and its implications for world religions. This leads on to a study of rites of passage in the great world religions within the context of an IT course.
Open Day Islamic Display
The Divisions Year (Year 10) presents a challenge of some of the major questions of life. Does life have any purpose or meaning and can religion help to answer some of life’s questions? A study of the Holocaust provides the basis for an investigation into the problem of suffering.
Mr Perl Holocaust Lecture
GCSE is also offered in Year 10 as a full course in Philosophy and Ethics (OCR Examination Board).
GCSE pupils on Open Day
Rev R D E Bolton
Head of Religious Education and Religious Studies
