Key Stage 3

Our Humanities Learning Vision & Intent:

• The humanities curriculum begins in a spirit of exploration and enquiry. Big questions sit at the heart of the learner experience so that learners can identify the challenges and opportunities that face humanity (and have found in the past) and will face in the future.
• Learners will gain knowledge with which they can make informed choices about dilemmas and difficulties and embrace opportunities to innovate and offer hopeful solutions to problems they may face.
• Their learning experiences will take place both in and out of the classroom so that learners remain connected to their man-made and natural world.

Year 8 Contexts for Learning:
Term 1: “Is going Nuclear a price worth paying?”
Geography – Energy, Chernobyl and Renewables
History – Pearl Harbour, Hiroshima
RVE – Ethics of War and Pacifism

Term 2: “How do humans overcome adversity?”
Geography – Deprivation and regeneration through the Olympic games
History – World War 1
RVE – Festivals

Term 3: “A Journey to and through the Mississippi"
Geography – Physical geography, rivers and processes
History – Slavery and Civil War
RVE – Equality and race

Click here to view our dedicated Key Stage 3 curriculum website

Key Stage 4 Geography

In key stage 4 we follow the WJEC GCSE Geography specification.

Key Stage 4 History

In key stage 4 we follow the WJEC GCSE History specification

Unit 1 – The Elizabethan Age, 1558-1603

This unit focusses on:

• Elizabeth’s government and the changing role of Parliament.
• Rich and poor in Elizabethan times.
• The religious problems facing Elizabeth.
• The threat of the Spanish Armada.

Unit 2 – The USA: A Nation of Contrasts, 1910-1929

This unit focusses on:

• Immigration
• Religion and Race
• Crime and Corruption
• Popular entertainment.

Unit 3 – changes in Crime and Punishment, c1500 to the present day.

This unit focusses on:

• The main causes of crime over time.
• Why have attitudes to punishment changed over time?

Unit 4 – Two Non-Examined Assessments

This unit is two teacher assessed investigations into two topics in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Eg. Jack the Ripper and London in the early 19^th century.

Key Stage 4 Religious Studies

In key stage 4 we follow the WJEC GCSE Religious Studies specification.

Religious Studies is a well-regarded subject which gives pupils the opportunity to explore a variety of moral and ethical issues such as:

• Euthanasia
• War and pacifism
• Sexual relationships
• Suffering
• Extremism
• Evolution
• Human rights
• Racism
• Abortion

As a result, pupils come to a better understanding of their own beliefs, the beliefs of others and also to empathise with the problems that individuals can face on their journey through life.

The current WJEC syllabus for RS consists of two units.

Year 10

Unit 1 – Religion and Philosophical Themes

Part A - Specified core beliefs, teachings and practice of Christianity and Islam.

Part B - Study of two philosophical themes (Life and Death, Good and Evil)

Year 11

Unit 2 – Religion and Ethical Themes

Part A - Specified core beliefs, teachings and practice of Christianity and Islam.

Part B - Study of two ethical themes (Relationships, Human Rights)

Key Stage 5 Religious Studies

The syllabus for Religious Studies consists of:

Candidates for the AS Level will be required to sit two external written examination papers at the end of Year 12.

Unit 1 - An Introduction to the Study of Religion – Buddhism

Written examination: 1 hour 15 mins - 15% of the qualification

Unit 2 - An Introduction to Religion and Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion

Section A: An Introduction to Religion and Ethics

Section B: An Introduction to Philosophy of Religion

Written examination: 1 hour 30 mins - 25% of the qualification

Candidates for the A Level will be required to sit three external written examination papers at the end of Year 13.

Unit 3 - A Study of Religion – Buddhism

Written examination: 1 hour 30 mins - 20% of the qualification

Unit 4 - Religion and Ethics

Written examination: 1 hour 30 mins - 20% of the qualification

Unit 5 - Philosophy of Religion

Written examination: 1 hour 30 mins - 20% of the qualification