In EYFS our humanities - history and geography are taught as one subject throughout the year. We provide the foundation of historical and geographical skills and knowledge in our early years setting. In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, we teach our humanities - history and geography as two separate subjects. Each long term (Autumn, Spring and Summer) we teach one history and one geography topic, changing over at the half-term break.
In Key Stage 2 we have some mixed age classes. In order to avoid children repeating some topics, and missing out altogether on others, we work on a two-year cycle.
We use the ‘Reach Out’ curriculum as a basis for our history and geography teaching. We aim for the curriculum to inspire our children's curiosity and to foster an interest in these two subjects, which will remain with pupils for life.
HISTORY
We believe that it is important for the children to learn about the history of Britain, Europe and the wider world. Our knowledge of the past is developed through the study of ancient civilisations, key figures, world-changing events and through exploring the history of processes such as industrialisation and ideas such as Civil Rights.
History helps explain why our world, is as it is; why societies are diverse and why things change and knowledge of the past can help us tackle the challenges of the future.
GEOGRAPHY
At Christ the King we believe that studying geography stimulates an interest in the world around us. Through studying geography, we want our children to learn to question, to investigate and to think critically about the issues affecting our planet and people’s lives currently and in the future. Geography tells us where places are, explains how places and landscapes developed, how people interact with their environment and how we are all connected by our economies, societies and environments.
Children investigate places at all levels – from exploring the natural world around them in EYFS to the personal through local area explorations in KS1- to the global, through studying population, migration, and energy and sustainability in KS2. We also look at physical phenomena, such as mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, biomes, rivers and weather. Our children learn both in the classroom and outside, by undertaking field work and by using maps (including digital ones) to gather information.
We aim to make our children ‘global citizens’ who understand their responsibilities to other people, the world around them and the sustainability of Planet Earth.