Ethics & Philosophy

The overall aim is for students to be able to engage in discussion about events/beliefs in the world today. Students will be able to identify how personal beliefs influence the lives of individuals and groups, as well as how religions and worldviews have an impact on wider current affairs. We aim to deliver a high-quality and challenging ethics and philosophy education that inspires a love of learning and ethics.

Students focus on beliefs from Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.

Each unit is built around a series of challenging philosophical questions. Each question will enable pupils to build on their existing knowledge and express personal informed views on world events.

Ethics and Philosophy is an essential component of a broad and balanced education and is concerned with the deep meaning that individuals and groups make of their experiences, and how this helps them give purpose to their lives. It 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.

In year 9, we start to cover Islamic beliefs and teachings, and continue to work on the beliefs and teachings which are central to Christianity. In the case of Islam, this is largely about looking at the central tenets of faith in Sunni and Shi’a Islam, and the main articles of faith underlying Christianity. We then go on to the theme of social justice and human rights, with a view to relating each aspect of this to Islamic and Christian attitudes.