Religious Studies and Theology
Head of Religious Studies and Theology
Jon Searle
Teachers of Religious Studies and Theology
David Kendall (Head of The Humanities Faculty)
Shelina Khatun
The Department at a glance
We aim in all years to give our pupils as wide a range of experiences as possible in all aspects of Religious Studies and Theology. The emphasis in Years 7 and 8 is on building a wide ranging understanding of the impacts on belivers of the six major world religions. Year 9 students undertake a broad course covering aspects of general social anthropology related to, 'conflict' and 'life and death'.
At GCSE, from September 2009, we will be following the Edexcel Religious Studies course focusing on Christian and Islamic studies. This is complemented by the AQA AS and A Level courses offered in the Sixth Form.
Beyond the directly taught curriculum there is a student led Theology Forum called 'The Gnostics' where staff and students from a range of disciplines, particularly within but not limited to, the Humanities Faculty, explore issues of intellectual consequence, and the 'Top Three Inches', the departmental society, which holds annual events including a sixth form confernce and a dinner.
Mr Searle read Theology at Oxford and later for an MPhil in Politics. He has been a member of the BMS staff since 2002 having completed a PGCE at Warwick the previous year. His particular academic interests are the history of Islam and the development of the doctrines of Jihad. An Assistant Examiner for OCR at GCSE, he lives in Bedford with his wife Kate and their three sons.
Mr Kendall, as Head of the Humanities Faculty, teaches within the RST Department. He publishes regularly in academic and educational journals and is an Examiner at both GCSE and A Levels. In 2007 he undertook a sabbatical as Farmington Fellow of Theology, based at Harris-Manchester College, Oxford. He is married with two sons, both of whom are OBM.
Miss Khatun is a new appointment to the Department and joined the BMS staff in September 2009. She read Social Anthropology at SOAS, graduating in 2007. Her academic interests lie with the social and political dimensions of Islam, particularly in the South Asian region. She has a keen interest in charity work, and has worked with many organisations including, Comic Relief, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief. She lives in Luton with her family.
