Humanities - Geography and History

GEOGRAPHY at Westfield Primary School

At Westfield Primary School, we believe that Geography helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. All children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it regardless of their background or additional needs.

The Geography curriculum at Westfield enables all children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can and are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We seek to inspire in all children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

The curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at Westfield Primary School and also to their further education and beyond. 

Independence

A geography curriculum that develops the skills needed to go out into the wider world and explore.

Individuality

A geography curriculum that allows for children to express and share their views on the world around them.

Inqusitive

A geography curriculum that provokes questions from children and encourages them to find out the answers.

Geography at Westfield is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school. At the beginning of each topic, children are able to convey what they know already, which then helps to inform the programme of study and also ensures that lessons are relevant and take account of children’s different starting points. Consideration is given to how greater depth will be taught, learnt and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. Cross curricular outcomes in Geography are specifically planned for, with their skills in English and Maths being used to aid learning in lessons. The local area is fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice.  

 Outcomes in topic books evidence a broad and balanced Geography curriculum and demonstrate children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge. As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge, understanding and appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context. We also find it essential that the children’s Geography topics are embedded through other subject areas, such as through English lessons.

HISTORY at Westfield Primary School

At Westfield Primary School, we believe that children should be taught to have a coherent knowledge and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past, and how Britain and the wider world has changed over time.  Alongside this curriculum, we are very proud of our locality and understanding the past of our local area around school, including changes to our town and knowing about significant people in the past.   

In conjunction with the aims of the National Curriculum, our History teaching at Westfield Primary School offers opportunities for the children to:

• be curious and inspired to know more about the past,
• be equipped to be able to ask perceptive questions,
• be challenged to think critically, weigh evidence, sift through arguments and develop perspective and judgement,
• understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change,
• understand the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own,
• understand their own identity and the challenges of their time.

Independence

A History Curriculum that enables all children to learn and make progress, regardless of their history ability and prior knowledge. Lessons include opportunities for all children to take control of their own learning by investigating a variety of sources and artefacts.

Individuality

A History Curriculum that provides a range of opportunities to learn about the impact that the past has on our lives. We aim for this understanding to empower children to dream about what can be possible for them to achieve now and in their future lives.

Inqusitive

A History Curriculum that allows all children to address and devise historic questions about change, cause and significance, to allow them to understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources and impacts our lives now. 

History is taught throughout the year in blocks of learning, to enable the children to achieve depth in their learning.  In lessons, the teaching of History focuses on enabling the children to think as historians.  We teach history using historical artefacts, primary sources, visitors, school trips out and historical stories to stimulate learning and historical thinking.  Children across the year groups are encouraged to ask questions about the information they are given and to understand that historical events may be interpreted in different ways.  

The History curriculum at Westfield Primary School allows for all children to develop an enjoyment of historical study, which develops children’s curiosity in order to gain a clear understanding of the past (and present).

This is done through the use of differentiated activities in lessons and planning for open-ended tasks that are open to individual interpretation and questioning.  Our History curriculum also has links with the rest of the curriculum, such as English lessons that have a historical theme.  The children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is further enhanced through our History lessons, as children are given opportunities to discuss moral questions (thinking about what is right and wrong), studying artefacts, buildings and churches to give children a sense of their place to come in history.

Children’s knowledge, understanding and progress in history will be measured using a range of qualitative and quantitative strategies including: information from book scrutiny, performance data measured from their individual starting point, lesson observations, drop ins and pupil voice.