Religious Studies at LGGS

LIFE AND DEATH & CRIME AND PUNISHMENT ... Just two thought provoking topics covered in class

LIFE AND DEATH
As part of our GCSE syllabus students are learning about Issues of Life and Death which involves understanding the role of the funeral in providing comfort for the relatives of the deceased.  We had a visitor from Preston Ireland Bowker called Paul Wilson who directs funerals. He talked to the students about his work. Here are some of the comments that our students made about the visit.

“To me this was a real eye opener. It dissolved any fear or unanswered questions that I had. He spoke about death openly and honestly yet in such a sensitive and sincere manner. The spin of optimism made it easier for people to understand and will definitely be beneficial in future losses.
Personally it has helped me shed light on why it happens and how I can convert my anger, from a loss of my own, to love and understanding. I think everyone appreciated the positivity he showed and admired his trust in us to be personal and tell us about his life in this job. For this I am thankful and honoured.” N. Onek

“I found this talk really interesting as it gave us an insight into the range of feelings there are towards death. Though I must admit I was a bit apprehensive at first as I thought it would be a really morbid lesson, it wasn’t at all! Mr Wilson was really fun (something I didn’t expect for a funeral director) and only spoke about death very light-heartedly. We were able to imagine different funerals that he had experienced through the stories that he told us. A few of them were a little on the strange side like the man who was afraid of death had an endless list of survival items that he wanted in his coffin. It was also slightly weird when Mr Wilson asked us to think about our own funerals and songs we would like to be played but the class found some humour in this and thought of songs such as “Wake me up” and “Always look on the bright side of life” which is a popular choice apparently! All in all, I found this talk very enjoyable and a great input alongside the GCSE course.”
E. Bowker

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
As part of our GCSE syllabus students are learning about Crime and Punishment which involves understanding the life and role of the prison in providing rehabilitation, punishment and retribution.  We had a visitor called Kirstie Gorman who is an Occupational Therapist on the mental health team
at Lancaster Farms who works with the most vulnerable prisoners and she gave a talk to year 11.
Here are some of the comments that our students made about the visit.

“Ms Gorman described what the cells were like and told us about the society within the unit. She helps young people through their time with therapy and assists them to fit back into the community. She helps them consider what they have done and realise it was wrong. Ms Gorman told us some stories about the inmates which helped us relate to them. Overall, she was a very kind and interesting visitor who answered all our questions and helped us realise what it was like to be there.” Anon

 “I thought Ms Gorman’s talk was an extraordinary insight into the lives of those who normally we would never think about. The hard hitting stories made us realise what was really going on behind those closed doors, and destroyed our misconceptions and misgivings about this particular lifestyle.
It removed our prejudices, as one could be quite naive about such a topic or simply ignore the importance of it, as mental health is such a widespread problem and understanding this end of the spectrum is somewhat difficult because of the crimes they have committed, so people tend to empathise with them a great deal less when in reality they should empathise more.
Ms Gorman opened our eyes to this unknown way of life and revealed the true horrors of the situation. For example, some people may say prison life is easy, yet when you actually think about the small things, such as being able to get some fresh air when you want, the concept becomes a lot more daunting.
Ms Gorman’s presentation was great and had a lovely personal touch. Her experiences and stories shocked many of us and this talk certainly broadened my views about prisoners and edited my view in many ways so thank you very much.” C. Bristow