History, Geography and Religious Education
Humanities, or 'Supermanities' as some of our children have taken to calling it, is taking over the world! With events on the world stage as they are, never has there been a better time to discover and discuss what makes our world go round, how and why humans do what they do and what the purpose of it all is anyway.
In History, Geography and Religious Education (RE), our main aim is to excite the children about the past, help them understand the present and encourage them to be the history-makers in the future. We see our subjects as pivotal to the children's development into well-rounded, global citizens, equipped with a plethora of skills and interests which will help them flourish in whichever field they wish to enter when they're older.
Our curriculum focuses not on filling our heads with knowledge but developing the more challenging and useful skills which will be directly relevant to their later lives; they need to be able to find reliable sources of knowledge, apply that knowledge effectively in a wide variety of ways and thoroughly enjoy the process as well. Effective use of technology is essential for the upcoming generation, and the department's class set of new iPads has provided a range of fantastic opportunities for the children to express their creativity in new ways.
Whether it be acting out the Battle of Agincourt, squashing Starburst together to emulate rock formation, starting a (non-violent) riot during the Peasants' Revolt, debating Just War and pacifism, surviving the Black Death, testing the PH levels of an ‘acid bog’ in Studland Bay, building a Trebuchet to attack a replica Rochester Castle, writing letters to our local MP trying to sway his position on HS2, engaging in dialogue with Pope Francis, creating a puppet show of the murder of Thomas Becket, baking (and of course eating) Rocky Roads to show geographical inputs-outputs-processes or watching The History Man fire a cannon at the Head's Office, the children are encouraged to push themselves, ask challenging questions, work together and enjoy themselves in every lesson.