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Humanities

At Loughborough Primary School, we have carefully designed our curriculum to enable children to become confident, creative and independent learners who can explore the use of knowledge and skills throughout their learning.

We seek to broaden children’s real-life experiences inside the classroom and beyond the school gates, through educational visits, visitors, experimentation, exploration and discovery. We work very hard to ensure the curriculum reflects our diverse community, to expand pupils’ horizons and encourage them to carefully consider key themes and debate. Within lessons, our children acquire a range of knowledge and skills in both history and geography which they can then apply to other contexts and in a variety of situations. Furthermore, it is our aim that through historical and geographical learning, children will become accountable citizens, understanding their role in protecting our world and environment and knowing how they can cause positive change and development as they grow.

Across the course of a year, each year group studies a variety of humanities topics. These topics typically have either history or geography focus to allow our learning to hone in on core subject-specific knowledge and skills. Links across and between subjects give children a broad base of knowledge, facts, vocabulary, real-life experience and contexts to use for learning. Key topics are re-visited throughout children’s school-career in varying forms in order that they may deepen their skills, knowledge and understanding.

Geography

Loughborough’s geography curriculum is designed to provide children with learning opportunities that ‘equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes’ (National Curriculum, 2014) as well as the key skills to investigate and learn about these.

Our curriculum provides a range of diverse activities through which children learn about their immediate environment as well as those in other parts of the world. By the end of their time at Loughborough, each child will have experienced a wide variety of learning opportunities in order to develop their knowledge and understanding of place, space and scale and the ways in which they connect. In geography, children focus on five key areas of geography: location, place, human geography, physical geography, and map skills with fieldwork.

When children leave Loughborough, we expect them to have a secure knowledge of a range of different countries, to have considered key concepts such as immigration and trade, and well-developed geographical mapping skills.

History

‘History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time’ (National Curriculum, 2014).

Loughborough’s history curriculum ensures that pupils study a variety of historical periods within Britain and the wider world; our curriculum reflects the diversity of Loughborough’s community and provides an insight into how history has shaped our lives. Pupils also study people who have been inspirational throughout history; enabling them to see how they can overcome obstacles and achieve great things in life. Through this, pupils develop a range of historical understanding and skills.

In Key Stage 1, children focus on the core skills of chronology and sequencing. They also look at a range of different evidence in order to find out about the past. In Key Stage 2, the units selected enable children to build on previous knowledge and make links across the periods and events they have studied. They learn the main skills of chronology and examining evidence and these build in complexity from Year 1 to Year 6.

Within each topic, lessons follow carefully planned sequences which support children to build on their previous knowledge and skills whilst learning new content. Throughout each topic there is a balance of practical, hands-on learning, research reading and written recording of knowledge. At all times during the learning of history, children will be taught how to investigate a wide variety of sources of evidence to support their knowledge of historical events or periods of time.

By the end of their time at Loughborough each child will have been taught a wide range of key historical skills to enable them to investigate and respond to historical questions using relevant, organised and thoughtful information.

Geography Intent

Loughborough Primary School’s geography curriculum is designed to teach learners geographical knowledge and skills through structured and sequenced lessons. Geography at Loughborough Primary follows the National Curriculum giving our children opportunities to explore their surroundings, communities and wider geographical issues through engaging lessons coupled with exciting opportunities, both theoretical and practical. Our geography lessons allow for a broader, deeper understanding of the areas of geography identified in the curriculum (geographical enquiry, human and physical geography, locational and place knowledge and geographical skills and fieldwork). These lessons will allow our children to develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places and understanding of the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, along with how they bring about variation and change over time. We recognise the importance of raising children as responsible, curious thinkers who are able to process new information, reflect on it, think critically, and apply knowledge and skills to overcome challenges in our ever-changing world. Understanding both human and physical geography will enable our children to have a better understanding of themselves and the wider society they live in as they grow up to be caring, responsible adults who can influence the future of our planet.

Geography Implementation

At Loughborough Primary School, we teach geography in a planned, coherent way which is sequenced logically, ensuring that children learn and remember a rich body of geographical knowledge and acquire progressive geographical skills. Geographical skills are covered in depth throughout a pupil’s time at Loughborough. We provide a range of motivating experiences to engage our learners, including: visiting experts, outdoor learning in and around the school’s grounds, fieldwork trips, class trips and workshops.

In Key Stage 1, the children learn about local and national geography, acquiring basic map reading skills, learning what a city is, weather monitoring and exploring their local environment. Children will begin to compare where they live to places outside of Europe and ask and answer geographical questions. In Key Stage 2, we expand further to international geography and delve deeper into human and physical geography. Map skills are developed further using digital maps, an increase in keys and symbols and children will also begin to use more fieldwork skills. Children will learn about geographical processes such as how mountains are formed, the journey of a river, the water cycle, erosion and deforestation. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills and challenges. All children expand on their skills in local knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, geographical skills and fieldwork. Across both key stages, children have a range of opportunities to experience geography through practical engaging tasks both within and beyond the classroom.

Geography Impact

By the end of their education at Loughborough, our learners will have gained a rich body of geographical knowledge and a wide range of transferable skills, which they can apply to other subjects and contexts. We assess regularly in order to build a rounded picture of each child as a geographer, using practical opportunities, quizzes, discussions and presentations. This enables teachers to set appropriate, progressive targets and challenge children in their thinking and learning. All children will use geographical vocabulary and gain a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Children will begin to make relevant links from geography to other curriculum subjects, such as history and science.

We aspire for children to leave Loughborough being able to debate and discuss geographical issues and to be able to reflect and form their own opinions on matters such as climate change and natural disasters. We measure our impact based on pupils’ confidence to ask and explore questions to further their own geographical knowledge and understanding. They will be inquisitive young learners and citizens who choose to understand global environmental issues and seek to make a personal difference in protecting and shaping the world we share. Children will realise that they have choices to make in the world, developing a positive commitment to the environment and the future of the planet. In this way, we prepare our learners fully for transition to secondary school and transition into becoming global citizens.

History Intent

History at Loughborough Primary School offers coherently planned sequences of lessons to ensure we have progressively covered the skills and concepts required in the National Curriculum. Our History syllabus aims to develop historical skills and concepts which are transferable to whatever period of history is being studied and will equip children for future learning. These key historical skills and concepts, which are revisited throughout different units, are: Historical Interpretations; Historical Enquiry; Chronological Understanding; Knowledge and Understanding of Events, People and Changes in the Past and Presenting, Organising and Communicating.

The coverage of recent history in KS1 such as ‘Toys’ and ‘Exploration’ enables children to acquire an understanding of time, events and people in their memory and their parents’ and grandparents’ memories. For KS1, we have designed a curriculum that allows topics to be covered chronologically to allow a full opportunity for children to really grasp the difficult concept of the passing of time.

The intent in KS2 is that children understand chronological order from ancient history such as ‘Ancient Egypt’ and then more modern history such as ‘WW2’. Our history curriculum allows for children to truly develop and embed a sense of time and how civilisations were interconnected.

History Implementation

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. By the end of year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this are studies of world history, such as the ancient civilisations of Greece and the Mayans.
Cross curricular outcomes in history are specifically planned for, with strong links between the history curriculum and literacy lessons with class reading books chosen to help enable further contextual learning. Our diverse local area is also fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice. Planning is informed by and aligned with the National Curriculum (see blue). Outcomes of work are monitored to ensure that they reflect a sound understanding of the key identified knowledge.

In order for children to know more and remember more in each area of history studied, there is a structure to the lesson sequence whereby prior learning is always considered and opportunities for revision of facts and historical understanding are built into lessons. This allows for this revision to become part of good practice and ultimately helps build a depth to children’s historical understanding. The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson.

Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of history and see how it has shaped the world they live in.

History Impact

Outcomes in topic and literacy books, evidence a broad and balanced history curriculum and demonstrate the children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge. Children review the agreed successes at the end of every session and are actively encouraged to identify their own target areas, with support from their teachers.

Emphasis is placed on analytical thinking and questioning which helps pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world and are curious to know more about the past. Through this study, pupils learn to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. Regular school trips around the local area and to national museums provide further relevant and contextual learning.

Impact can also be measured every lesson through key questioning skills built into lessons and child-led assessment such as success criteria aimed at targeting next steps in learning.

At Loughborough, we want to ensure that history is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of historical knowledge and understanding, now and in the future.