Humanities Faculty

Geography

 The Geography curriculum is intended to develop and extend student knowledge of locations, places, environments and processes at all scales from local to global. This knowledge is set within various environmental, social, economic, political and cultural contexts. We want our students to be intellectually curious so they can play a part in making the world a better place to live, applying their knowledge to make positive choices about how they interact with the environment.

 Geography -  Curriculum Intent 

The Geography curriculum is intended to develop and extend student knowledge of locations, places, environments and processes at all scales from local to global. This knowledge is set within various environmental, social, economic, political and cultural contexts. We empower our students to be intellectually curious so they can play a part in making the world a better place to live, applying their knowledge to make positive choices about how they interact with the environment.

The Geography curriculum is intended to enable students of all backgrounds and abilities to gain knowledge and understanding of the interactions between people and environments, change in places and processes over space and time, and the inter-relationships between geographical phenomena at different scales and in different contexts.

The Geography curriculum is planned and sequenced to ensure the extention of student competence in a range of geographical skills including fieldwork, using maps and in researching information.

The Geography curriculum is planned and sequenced to enable students to apply their geographical knowledge, understanding, skills and approaches appropriately and creatively to real world contexts.

In line with whole school values, we desire all students reach their full potential. Geography lessons contain both breadth, depth and challenge and students are empowered to become high achieving, independent learners. The acronym DIGEST (see below) is used in Years 7-9 to formalise some of the key geographical assessment and literacy skills we are seeking to develop.

In Year 7 the DIGEST focus is on describing geographical patterns, ensuring the key inclusion of key terms and named places. In Year 8 this is built on with an emphasis on explaining and suggesting knock-on effects. In Year 9 the focus is on evaluation, with students required to make judgements about complex issues. Where appropriate this language is also used at GCSE.

D Describe in detail

I Include key terms and named places

G Give supporting data

E Explain why things happen

S Suggest knock on effects

T To what extent / make a judgement

Active learning in all year groups is underpinned by a number of key concepts and processes:

· Place – differences between them and how they are changing

· Scale – local, national, international and global

· Interdependence – how places are linked through flows of people and resources

· Cultural understanding – learning what it is like to live in different places

· Sustainability – how resources can be managed for the benefit of future generations

· Data analysis – interpreting data to help explain why something is as it is

· Fieldwork – collecting data outside the classroom

Years 7 - 9

 Students are taught in their tutor groups and have three lessons per fortnight.

Students study a wide range of physical and human Geography at a variety of local, national and international scales. This knowledge is set within various contexts. In Year 7 some content is interleaved using the continent of Africa as a lens through which to focus a wide variety of concepts. Other topics in Year 7 are Tourism, Coasts and Weather and Climate.

In Year 8 students study Rivers, Population, Cold Environments and Climate Change.

In Year 9 students study Globalisation, Natural hazards and Development. In the summer term of Year 9 the delivery of GCSE content begins.  

GCSE Geography

 We follow the AQA syllabus with students being taught in mixed ability classes and having five lessons per fortnight in year 10 and four per fortnight in year 11.

Students study the following units of work:

• The challenge of natural hazards
• The living world
• Physical landscapes in the UK
• Urban Issues and challenges
• The changing economic world
• The challenge of resource management  

Fieldwork: At GCSE there are two one day visits focusing on rivers and urban work. These enable students to collect data that can be used to support exam preparation and enable classroom learning to come alive.

History

 This popularity is a result of excellent teaching, committed staff and real enthusiasm for the subject which is shared by staff and students alike.  We love our subject, and our prime objective is always to imbue students with a similar passion for History.

History -  Curriculum Intent 

Our central mission as History teachers is to empower our students to question the world around them, guided by an understanding of past events and concepts and how they have shaped our current societies. We firmly believe that History is not simply factual content; instead this content should be a platform from which all of our students, regardless of their starting point and background, can develop the skills to find answers to their questions and encounter perspectives beyond their own. Our rationale is therefore to achieve a balance between a sense of historical period/chronology, and the metacognitive skills required to foster lifelong curiosity and learning. We consequently structure our curriculum chronologically with thematic and metacognitive review points embedded, starting with the medieval era and ending in the 20th century.

The key concepts underpinning our teaching at all levels are reflected in our level descriptors. We teach students to understand different interpretations, significance, continuity and change, and cause and consequence. Our lessons therefore aim to embed skills in source analysis and comparing interpretations, as well as analysing contextual material to reach substantiated evaluations and judgements. These same skills are assessed throughout the curriculum at increasingly advanced levels and with new content, allowing students of all abilities and needs to build on their prior learning and achieve progress. Throughout the curriculum, we have also incorporated activities which require students to develop their skills in independent and collaborative research and the management of long-term projects, key to the ‘getting life ready’ agenda. The school’s commitment to literacy is also reinforced in History as we guide students towards effective and balanced communication, both orally and in written form.

 Years 7 - 9 

During Years 7-9 students have three History lessons over two weeks. They follow a broadly chronological approach to give them a ‘sense of period’, starting with Medieval History and reaching the post-WW2 era by the end of Year 9 (see schedule below). Throughout this process students will be taught key transferable skills including source analysis and evaluation, how to structure and substantiate written essays and how to compare and contrast historical interpretations. We firmly believe in the value of historical curiosity, and this, combined with our desire to foster lifelong learners, has resulted in the department embedding an independent learning project every year which teaches students about research skills, managing their time, and pursuing an area of independent enquiry beyond the taught curriculum. Our resource records for this very much reflect an age-appropriate version of the records required for students in their A-level coursework, to foster mature historical skills from the outset. We also reward students for reading widely around the subject, and have a forum for them to recommend historical books to one another. This could well earn them the coveted History Hero badge!

The department utilises a wide variety of teaching resources and strategies, including source work, role plays, debates, and written and oral presentations. A variety of textbooks and other resources - including pictures, video, and music-based activities are used to enable students to develop their historical skills and appreciation of the subject.  As a department, we make use of metacognitive strategies, including recall and review elements, to ensure students can build on prior learning and develop a deep understanding of the skills within the subject, and to give them the confidence to draw out the thematic links and connections present throughout the curriculum.

 GCSE History

Students follow the WJEC course, which examines ‘Studies in Depth’ and ‘Studies in Breadth’.The depth study consists of a 2 hour examination, split into two papers of 1 hour each. The topics covered are:

1B: The Elizabethan Age, 1558-1603

1H: The USA: A Nation of Contrasts 1910-1929

The breadth study consists of a 2 hour examination, split into two papers of 45 minutes (Period Study) and 1 hour 15 minutes (Thematic Study). The topics covered are:

2B: The Development of Germany, 1919-1991 (Period Study)

2F: Changes in Health and Medicine in Britain, c.500 to the present day. The requirement to study a historic site is part of the Thematic Study.

In Year 10 students study the USA, Germany and half of the Medicine course.

In Year 11 students complete the Medicine topic, and then study the Elizabeth paper.

RPE

 RPE helps young people to be more informed about the beliefs, practices and wider questions of theists and atheists in our society and in cultures across the globe; thus encouraging students to have a better understanding of their own and others’ beliefs, which helps to enhance their views on Universal British values and a wider sense of community cohesion.  

Curriculum Intent 

The Religion, Philosophy and Ethics curriculum seeks to develop students’ understanding and critical engagement on issues that are pertinent to understanding humanity and their own place within the world. The purpose of the curriculum is to cultivate student respect and empathy for a diverse society and for them to identify shared values, to develop their own understanding of identity-in-difference; to facilitate inclusion and recognition of need of each individual student.

The curriculum plan aims to equip students with the analytical skills to understand and reflect on the rationale that motivates the behaviour and viewpoints of others’ and to know how this impacts on practice. Through this critical reflection and evaluation, students will be given the opportunity to develop their own understanding and viewpoint, so they can formulate reasoned opinion/ argument and contend with controversial issues and truth-claims.

Through the consideration of Philosophical, Religious and Ethical concepts and ideas, we are introducing stimulating and challenging material to give students a thorough and rigorous grounding in each discipline. Additionally, to enable students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the key religious traditions in Britain and globally, through the breadth of material covered, to identify commonality between each one, encouraging lateral thought. The curriculum aims to deliver material, through a variety of strategies, that is differentiated to both support and stretch students in achieving their potential, according to their individual needs. Over the course of study, in accordance with the Bucks Agreed Syllabus, students will be given the opportunity to engage with Christianity and at least two other religions.

In order to prepare students for the key skills required at GCSE and A Level, the programme of study establishes a planned sequence of learning building blocks to support student development in Lower School. The acronym ABCDE is introduced in Lower School lessons to lend structure to discussion and evaluative essay responses; to give a developed explanation of one viewpoint, citing evidence to support that view, to consider the counterargument and the evidence for it and to reach an evaluative judgement as to which is the most cogent. The programme of study will enable a gradual acquisition of skills and knowledge to ensure each student consolidates both their understanding and the skill-set that is required to help them to set the firm foundation for their further studies.

Years 7 -  9  

Year 7  

Year 7 students will follow an introductory unit on identity, including philosophical ideas about what it means to be human, including religious and non-religious views about the soul. They will discuss Sikhism, focussing on beliefs and practices and apply their knowledge to a group project about Sikhism in British society. The final term will be dedicated to an exploration of Humanism, as a comparison study to Sikhism. This will end with a topic on human rights and social justice.

Year 8 

Year 8 students will explore key Christian beliefs as a foundation to further study on the debate between scientific and religious beliefs about the origins of the universe and human life. The next unit of study will be an introduction to applied ethics, exploring a range of ethical response to issues such as animal rights, peace and conflict. They will have the opportunity to engage further in one area of ethical study as part of a group project. The final topic will enable students to engage philosophically with the question, are we free? 

Year 9 

Year 9 students will study Hindu beliefs and practices, with links to Hindu responses to ethical issues. The Problem of Evil will be their next unit of study, engaging in the philosophical challenges that the existence of evil brings to belief in an all loving God. Students will then follow a programme of study considering different academic ethical theory, evaluating each approach in light of a series of moral dilemmas. They will then apply their ethical knowledge, in greater depth, to the issue of crime and punishment, considering different approaches to punishment in accordance with culture and context. In their final term students will learn key beliefs and practices of Islam. Their final topic will explore different views on life after death, drawing on prior knowledge of key religions studied. 

GCSE RPE  

At the end of Year 9, students can opt to do our full course GCSE. Our year 10 and 11 students are studying the AQA Religious Studies full course (linear). Year 10 based on Christianity and year 11 on Judaism. In both years we explore a variety of philosophical and moral such as evolution, death, terrorism, sex, justification of the existence of God.  

All Year 10 and 11 students, including those who take the GCSE course, also have one compulsory period every other week. The course is mainly based on discussion of specific topics such as contraception and sex, gender equality and diversity, environmental ethics and animal rights.