Our Approach to Humanities

The teaching of history and geography enriches our children’s learning as it provides an economic, political, physical, cultural and social context to the to their view of the world. Children should see themselves as an important part of society, an ability to discover and understand cultures and civilisations (past and present) that influence the lives of people, both in their locality around the world, enables them to do this.  

        Geography Curriculum Intent, Implementation, Impact

Intent 

The intent of the geography curriculum is that our children will have a deep understanding of their local environment and the diverse surroundings in the wider world, with appreciation to human and physical characteristics.  

We will deliver a curriculum that: 

• Inspires a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people  

• Equips children with an understanding of diverse places, people, resources and environments around them 
• Allows children to build on prior learning about physical and human processes and the formation and use of landscapes and environments 
• Develops an understanding that the Earth’s features are interconnected and change over time 
• Encourages exploration of their own environment and challenges pupils to make connections between their local surroundings and that of contrasting settlements   
• Use local area and community to develop geographical skills and knowledge  

Implementation 

The Geography programme of study provided by the National Curriculum has been broken down to ensure both progression and coverage across Key Stage 1 and 2. Our Humanities lead, will oversee the coverage of skills of geography across school. They will ensure to monitor, evaluate and review the teaching and learning. In order to do this, learning walks, book scrutinies and discussions with pupils will take place frequently throughout the academic year.  

The teaching, learning and sequencing of the curriculum follows:  

• A geography progression of skills that is organised into four main themes: Geographic and skills fieldwork; locational knowledge; human and physical; and place knowledge for each year group 

• Each theme will be taught explicitly through exciting topics, including links to other areas of the curriculum  
• Fieldwork allowing pupils to explore their local area 
• A teaching sequence that begins with a ‘hook’, builds knowledge and skills and concludes with a reflection including trips and showcases to an audience 
• Continuous CPD for teachers to ensure their skills and knowledge is developed to teach the skills confidently and accurately  

Impact 

• Opportunities for children to explore the outdoor learning environments, both within the school grounds and local community  
• Continued training and support for teachers ensuring they are the experts in the subjects that they teach  
• There will be a clear progression of skills across Key Stage 1 and 2 that builds on prior knowledge that can be demonstrated in books 

• Our children will be confident geographers and be able to clearly discuss their learning from past and current topics, as well as explain their next steps  
• Out-of-class opportunities ensure geography is ongoing and embedded as part of St Margaret Mary e.g. The Planeteers provides children to take responsibility for looking after their environments  

History Curriculum Intent, Implementation, Impact

St Margaret Mary’s Approach to History

The teaching of history enriches our children’s learning as it provides an economic, political, cultural and social context to their view of the world. Children should see themselves as an important part of society, having an ability to discover and understand cultures and civilisations (past and present) that influence the lives of people, both in their locality and around the world. Learning about History enables them to do this.  

History Curriculum Intent, Implementation, Impact

Intent 

History intends to prepare each student for their next phase of education whilst at the same time giving all students a broad and balanced view of the History of Britain and other societies and epochs. In this, students will develop a well-rounded knowledge of the past and its events, with intention to improve every students’ cultural capital, understanding of the world around them and their own heritage. History at St Margaret Mary aims to be ambitious, and motivating; we aim to be ambitious in our coverage of History and thorough teaching of Historical skills. Further to this, we intend it to be motivating, through engaging activities, trips and visitors that give all students an opportunity to question the past.  

At St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, we have designed our History curriculum with the intent to inspire our children to: 

• Become increasingly critical and analytical thinkers 
• Possess a secure understanding of the chronology of the British Isles and other important periods of History 
• Develop a curiosity discover links and connections to the History they learn and the wider community and locality 
• Further their knowledge and explanations of change and continuity over time with regards to the history of the British Isles and other societies and epochs 
• Differentiate between source types and explain how interpretations in History may differ  

• Draw on similarities and differences within given time frames and across previously taught History 
• Enquire in to Historical themed questions and form their own opinions and interpretation of the past 

Implementation 

The curriculum is led and overseen by the Mrs Fontana, History coordinator. As History coordinator, a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review will contribute to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further.   

In Early Years, History is taught, via the Early Learning Goals linked to the Specific Area ‘Understanding the World’. The majority of learning in this area occurs through adult intervention when the children are in continuous provision. However, during their time in Early Years the children will listen to stories set in different locations, engage in a units such as ‘Me and My Community,’ ‘Once upon a time,’ ‘Starry Night’ and ‘Dangerous Dinosaurs’ and participate in topic led work about the world they live in.

By the end of Early Years therefore, the children should be able to:

– Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society;

– Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;

– Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling, the exploration of artefacts and videos as well as memorable experiences and visits.

In Key Stage 1 and 2, History Lessons focus on developing ‘Knowledge and Knowhow’, Historical skills and understanding how to work as Historians.

In KS1 these skills will focus on the world around them and their living memory of History before moving to events that go beyond living history. This will ensure a firm foundation for KS2 History.

In KS2, the History curriculum is set out in chronological order to allow children to reference the previous events in time and to refer to this prior learning year-on-year and within the year. Lessons will develop long-term memory by allowing for repetition of learning within the year and year on year. Knowledge organisers are used to aid teachers in planning their knowledge and skills and students in understanding the expectations by the end of the unit. Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary is taught within the unit and reinforced throughout the year.

SMSC and Citizenship are threaded through the History curriculum to link history to their lives and explore their heritage and cultural capital.  

We encourage the children to have real life experiences and learn about History in an active and creative way, making connections with prior historical learning and other subject areas. We use visits to places of interest and visitors to school to provide further relevant and contextual learning.

The teaching, learning and sequencing of the History curriculum is timetabled to ensure coverage and progression in all skills relating to History with the opportunity to revisit and consolidate these as well as use new knowledge to enforce prior skills.

The progression of skills is set out in order to build and develop the following: 

• Chronological Understanding 

• Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past 
• Connection and Historical Links 
• Interpretations of History 
• Historical Enquiry 

Impact 

At St. Margaret Mary, we have a child-centred approach, which aims for our children to leave our school with a good understanding of a range of topics. We use our Christian values to guide and support our children to leave us with a broad, rich and deep knowledge of the world past and present.  They are able to transfer the skills that they have mastered into wider contexts and are prepared for the next stages of their education.  We hope that we have planted the seeds of inquisitiveness and inspired them to always have their minds open to new learning

We review learning and the impact of our teaching by evaluating pupil voice, tracking attainment and progress. We strive to improve the impact of the History curriculum by highlighting areas of development so that the learning remains memorable and has an impact on the experience, skills and knowledge developed

Outcomes in History books evidence a broad and balanced history curriculum and demonstrate the children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge. 

• Children will become increasingly critical and analytical within their thinking. Making informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge and understanding of the past. 
• Children will become increasingly aware of how historical events have shaped the world that they currently live in. 
• They will also have a further understanding of History on a local level.
• Children will develop enquiry skills to pursue their own interests within a topic and further questioning. 

• Where applicable, children will have encountered or participated in high-quality visits/visitors to further appreciate the impact of History. 
• Children are to retain prior learning and explicitly make connections between what they have previously learned and what they are currently learning.