Humanities

Intent

At Walton-on-Trent primary school we follow the national curriculum for our teaching of humanities.

The Humanities consists of the subjects of Geography and History. Each has something unique to offer the children; each one adding to a students’ understanding of their world and their place in it.

As a group of subjects, Humanities is uniquely placed to promote core universal and ‘British Values’ of respect and understanding of different cultures, religions and the environment.

Through the study of Humanities at Walton-on-Trent Primary School our students will:

• Be curious, self-motivated and reflective learners; consistently asking and answering challenging questions and issues, whilst being open minded to evidence and other viewpoints.
• Develop the life skill of interpreting and understanding a myriad of cultural, historical, economic, social and environmental issues within Britain, Europe and the World.
• Be able to form, articulate and defend opinions based on evidence and understanding and therefore become active citizens and participate fully in democracy.
• Develop high levels of literacy, oracy and graphicacy ensuring that students who study Humanities subjects develop important employability skills as well as life skills.
• Develop into well rounded, knowledgeable and active citizens, reflecting the school values of Respect, Aspiration and Determination.

Implementation

In order to achieve the aims outlined above Humanities is organised into topics across the school. These topics are set out for each class from Curriculum Maestro, these topics are used as a basis to help and support teacher planning then teachers are free to develop ideas on top of this. The teachers use creative and cross-curricular approaches as well as teaching the subjects independently. As we have mixed classes, we provide suitable learning.

Planning and evaluation of work take place in weekly plans, medium and long term plans. The Humanities subject leader will complete a book trawl to ensure curriculum coverage is consistent.  People with an interest in or expertise in a particular topic or area of history and/or may be invited into school to work with the children. Such visitors may include parents, grandparents, other family members, neighbours, and the local community. School trips are also a part of the curriculum delivery to enable children to have a wider experience of a topic.

Impact

Within Geography we strive to support the children with the geographical knowledge and skills to help them explore, navigate, and understand the world around them and their place in it. Children’s knowledge and skills will develop progressively as they move through the school, not only to enable them to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum but to prepare them to become competent geographers in secondary education.