Prince of Wales Primary School
Humanities Policy
VISION: Every child at Prince of Wales Primary School will be able to fully undertake their
place as a global citizen through their knowledge and understanding of the world, its history
and its people.
In our teaching at Prince of Wales of Humanities we aim to:
 Encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own active learning
 Teach pupils about ancient civilisations in world history and British history with in depth
and overview studies.
 Help pupils to know how individuals have helped shape our society and values
 Provide opportunities for pupils to make judgements based on historical evidence
 Teach pupils how life has changed over long periods of time and make comparisons
 Experience historical events through role play, handling artefacts and visiting speakers
 Develop geographical knowledge and an understanding of the world and its people.
 Promote a sense of national identity and place it within a European and global context
 Recognise that there are some things we can never know about the past
 and that History has to be constructed from the bits of the past that have
 survived
 Develop a sense of time (chronology), recognising how time is measured
and that some things change and some things stay the same
 Undertake a local geographical study in order to promote understanding of changes to
their locality.
 Undertake geographical enquiry and promote awareness of global environmental
issues.
 To develop an informed concern about the quality of the environment and
 the future of the human habitat
 Enhance their sense of responsibility for the care of the Earth and its
 people and secure their commitment to promoting and living sustainable
 lifestyles
 Develop skills of critical enquiry and an ability to handle and interpret
 information, through asking and answering geographical questions and
 using ICT to communicate with and explore a variety of people, places and
 environments across the world
 Study the above across a range of places, cultures and environments at a
 variety of scales, from local to global
 Foster a sense of understanding about how we are interconnected and
 interdependent with other people and ecosystems around the world.
 Explore values and attitudes about complex issues
 Stimulate an interest in their surroundings and in the variety of human and
Physical conditions on the Earth
Introduction
History and Geography are foundation subjects within the National Curriculum. We believe
that the teaching of Humanities enriches the children’s lives by actively exploring a variety of
physical and human features in the past, present and future. All pupils will gain a true
awareness of the world around them and how events have influenced our lives today. We
believe children should see themselves as an important part of the society that surrounds
them and be encouraged to have a curiosity about the differing people and events in their
world now and long ago in order to understand the interdependence of lands, cultures and of
different generations within a global ecosystem. At prince of Wales, we aim to foster a desire
for lifelong learning that may develop into future hobbies/pastimes e.g. visiting museums, rock
collecting, becoming part of the local heritage group.
Planning
The Humanities curriculum is integrated into termly learning themes yet in medium term
planning either a historical or geographical focus is distinctly targeted. Over the next few
years, we aim to ensure that fieldwork and mapping skills become a growing and integral part
of our planning and that the National Curriculum programmes of study direct the content of
our teaching and learning replacing the QCA units of study. Investigations focusing on
geographical questions are planned to develop geographical enquiry and skills across KS1
and KS2.
Delivery
In the Early Years Foundation Stage the stepping stones set out in the Early Learning Goal:
Knowledge and Understanding sets the foundations for learning the humanities skills. In key
stages 1 and 2, Humanities may be taught in blocks, themed enrichment days or in afternoon
sessions over the term.
Varying teaching methods are adopted to suit a range of learning styles. Resources are
provided so that all children may access the learning. Topic related visits are undertaken and
outside agencies used to give pupils the opportunity to undertake interactive historical and
geographical fieldwork studies. We believe that good teaching in Humanities should retain the
children’s interest and therefore a range of activities are used to deliver the humanities
curriculum including:
 Presentations
 Story telling
 Fieldwork visits or visitors including investigations, interviews, questionnaires, surveys,
sketching, problem solving
 Role play / drama
 Discussion and debates
 Quizzes
 Interactive displays
 Enrichment days
Recording and Assessment
Pupils’ work is formatively assessed according to the learning objectives set and progression
is then built into the units based on the results. We assess by observing and questioning the
children, evaluating knowledge at the start and end of a taught unit and carrying out a scrutiny
of work across the school for progression and to identify the areas for improvement. Progress
and achievement in the Humanities curriculum is reported to parents and carers and
governors each year in the annual report.
Homework
Children are encouraged to undertake personal research at home to support and extend their
learning in Humanities. The homework activities are then followed up in future class lessons,
thus allowing pupils to share their learning and skills.
Inclusion
All children are given equal access to the programmes of study through differentiated support.
Risk assessments are carried out before all fieldwork activities take place and TA/LSA
support planned for anyone with a disability. Challenges and extension actives are provided
for gifted and talented pupils.
Miss Ayer, Humanities coordinator
Next review : January 2014