Religious Education at Derwent Lodge

At Derwent Lodge Religious Studies is very much an inclusive subject in which the girls can share their experiences of religion and everyone can understand what it is like to belong to a faith.  School trips and visiting speakers enhance the girls learning and understanding of Religious Studies.  The curriculum is delivered via one hour lessons that take place every week.

The first term in Year Three is spent looking at special occasions, first looking at the festival of Diwali for Hindu’s and then the time of Advent and Christmas for Christians around the world.  The Lent term is dedicated to looking at Old Testament stories and their symbolism.  In the summer the girls are then introduced to some New Testament stories with a particular focus on parables and miracles.  Once in Year Four, the girls are introduced to the religion of Judaism through some new stories from the Old Testament and through learning the history of this religion and the special occasions that occur during the Jewish calendar.  Christianity and Judaism will then be studied by looking at the festivals of Passover and Easter, with a particular focus on the events during Holy week and Easter itself.  During the summer term girls will learn more about the religion of Christianity through more stories from the New Testament.  As in Year Three, there will be a particular focus on parables and miracles.  

Once in the senior school, the girls will spend time in the Michaelmas term questioning what a religion is, the differences between beliefs and knowledge and looking at all of the world’s religions that are covered in the school.   To follow on, the girls will look at influential people around the world and have the opportunity to research such a person and produce work on their chosen individual.  During the Lent term the girls move on to look at sacred places.  They learn about how the Church is special to Christians and the Mosque to Muslims.  The final term then explores the religion of Islam further by looking at beliefs and practices of Muslims.  Once in Year Six, the girls are really starting to have a good basic understanding of most of the religions that the school covers.  It is then that they then add to their religious knowledge by looking at Hindu beliefs and practices, and the importance of the Mandir.  During the Lent term the girls are introduced to the religion of Buddhism through stories and discussion about this fascinating way of life.  During the final term of Derwent Lodge the girls then have the opportunity to build on their religious knowledge by undertaking an independent project that either looks at festivals or celebrations of a particular religion/s; or looks in detail at a particular religion with detail on beliefs and practices, sacred places and celebrations.