Humanities at Haresfield

At Haresfield School, we aim to give our children a humanities curriculum which enables them to become confident, creative and independent learners who can explore the use of different knowledge and skills throughout their learning. We seek to broaden children’s real-life experiences both inside and outside of school through educational visits, visitors, experimentation, exploration and discovery. Within lessons, our children acquire a range of knowledge and skills in both history and geography which they can then apply to other subjects and in a variety of situations. Furthermore, it is our aim that through historical and geographical learning, children will become accountable citizens, understanding their role in protecting our world and environment and knowing how they can cause positive change and development as they grow.

Implementation

How our learning skills underpin the curriculum content.

Curiosity: pupils ask and answer questions about the past, investigating how events in history have impacted their lives today. Pupils also explore ideas about human and physical geography, investigating why things have changed and evaluating their own impact on their world.

Appreciation: pupils develop an appreciation for the actions of our ancestors, our own actions and the impact they can have on our world. They also develop an appreciation of other cultures and other ways of living.

Compassion: pupils become compassionate thinkers who talk about historical and geographical events across the world with sensitivity and empathy.

How British Values are taught through Humanities at Haresfield.

British values, including those of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs are embedded in the History and Geography curriculum. Children explore issues such as democracy in their historical context and relate them to the modern day, they also look at democracy geographically. By looking at the achievements of famous British people, pupils develop an awareness of how they have influenced and shaped the country in which we live. This includes an appreciation of the impact of their work in periods such as the Industrial Revolution as well as the contribution made in both World Wars. Teaching pupils to respect and value diversity is developed in the study of the civil rights movement and apartheid in upper Key Stage 2. Furthermore, by making links with modern day issues such as racism, pupils are made aware of the importance of British values over time. These values are also encouraged in the day to day teaching and learning through showing respect for different viewpoints and ideas as well as in the ability to work effectively together both individually and in groups.

Curriculum Implementation

Across the course of a year, each class studies a variety of humanities topics. These are either history or geography focused to allow our learning to focus on core subject specific knowledge and skills. Links across and between subjects give children a broad base of knowledge, facts, vocabulary, real-life experience and contexts to use for learning. Both history and geography have identified key themes which support children to make connections and links across the topics covered. Some key topics are re-visited throughout children’s school-life in varying forms in order that they may deepen their skills, knowledge and understanding. A precise tiered approach to vocabulary enables children to build a shared working vocabulary. Purposeful and natural links to British values and discussions around being good UK and global citizens are threaded through the curriculum. Our history curriculum promotes the rich diversity of the world, Britain and an appreciation of our locality.

In Geography, children focus on 5 key areas of geography: location, place, human geography, physical geography, and map skills and fieldwork. When children leave Haresfield, we expect them to have a sound knowledge of a range of different countries, to have considered key concepts such as immigration and trade, and well-developed geographical mapping skills. They should be able to locate key world countries and features and use a map efficiently including using 6-figure grid references.

In History, in Key Stage 1, children focus on the core skills of chronology and sequencing. They also look at a range of different evidence in order to find out about the past. In Key Stage 2, the units selected enable children to build on previous knowledge and make links across the periods and events they have studied. They learn the main skills of chronology and examining evidence and these build in complexity from Year 1 to Year 6. When children leave Haresfield, we expect them to have a sound understanding of the chronology of major periods in world history, a knowledge of key people, events and our four themes, and well developed historical skills.

Both history and geography lessons take various forms. Throughout each topic there is a balance of practical, hands-on learning, research reading and written recording of knowledge.

Our History curriculum is divided into 3 phases :-

EYFS & KS1 – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

Lower Key Stage 2 – Year 3 and Year 4

Upper Key Stage 2 – Year 5 and Year 6

Please click on the links below to see the curriculum maps for each phase.

 

For the national curriculum links for the whole school curriculum please click on the link below.

 

To see our progression of history skills for the whole school please clink on the link below.

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Our Geography Curriculum is divided into 3 phases:-

EYFS + KS1 – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

Lower Key Stage 2 – Year 3 and Year 4

Upper Key Stage 2 – Year 5 and Year 6

Please click on the links below to see the curriculum maps for each phase.

 

For the National Curriculum links to the whole school geography curriculum please click on the link below.

 

To see our progression of geographical skills for the whole school please click on the link below.