In St Patrick’s we aim to provide our students with the best possible grounding in our Catholic faith.

KEY STAGE 3

In years 8, 9 and 10 in St Patrick’s students use the Fully Alive programme developed by Susan Morgan and Fr Peter O’Reilly. Fully Alive builds on the Alive O programme used in our primary schools.

Fully Alive was developed specifically for pupils in the North of Ireland. Operating within the context of the Church’s liturgical year, especially its strong seasons of Advent / Christmas and Lent / Easter, it introduces students to the Jesus of history and of the gospels. It allows both and examination and exploration of some of the main concepts of the Catholic faith. At the same time Fully Alive also explores basic belief and practice within the Orthodox churches as well as the churches of the Reform Tradition. Students are also introduced to both Judaism where Christianity has its roots, and Islam the other great Abrahamic faith.

GCSE

In years 11 and 12 students follow the AQA GCSE Religious Studies Specification A. We believe this specification provides students with the best and most appropriate grounding in the Catholic faith.

All of our students study Unit 5 St Mark’s Gospel in year 11, and then in year 12 either Unit 3 Catholicism, or Unit 4 Catholicism Ethics. The course is modular with students taking their first exam at the end of year 11 and the second at the end of year 12, each worth 50% of the final result.

A LEVEL

The programme for our senior students is delivered in a modular style, with students changing teachers every eight or nine weeks. The allows students to examine some of the central tenets of the faith, as well as a number of topical issues drawing on the expertise of a team of teachers.