Humanities Faculty
The Faculty, which boasts a supportive and hardworking staff, is a forward looking, successful and
thriving part of Rainhill Media Arts College
Faculty Aims
The Humanities Faculty aims to promote an enjoyment of learning, where pupils are encouraged to
become independent, multi-skilled learners. By studying the different humanities subjects students can
better appreciate the world in which we live, how the past has shaped our future and the multi-cultural
society in which we now all live. We aim to help all pupils to reach their potential and to foster a lifelong
interest in these subjects.
The faculty, through the individual subjects, enables pupils to see outside of themselves with study of the
natural and human world around them, it’s past, religious traditions and social values. Humanities subjects
assist young people to make sense of the modern world, ‘the global village’, helping them to become valuable
citizens and provide the context and background for all other human activity. The Humanities subjects are vital
to any student’s education. In our team we aim to:
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Provide all our students with the opportunity to achieve their academic potential
Provide our students with a safe and stimulating learning environment which will enable them to
succeed
Provide our students with an education that suits their learning needs
Provide our students with a wider understanding of who they are and how they relate to rest of the world
Provide our students with the ability to understand and question the issues facing them in today’s
society
Provide our students with the skills necessary to become lifelong learners
To contribute, through these aims, to the School Aims.
Staffing
Huw Jones
Jennifer Bruce
Gareth Duffy
Jacqui Ayre
Michael Binns
Gill Booth
Orla Coyne
Anne-Marie Holebrook
Susan Jones
Jane Marshall
Daniel Procter
Vacancy
Jo West
Head of Faculty
Head of History
Head of RE
RE Teacher/Citizenship Co-ordinator
Geography and Politics Teacher
RE/Sociology Teacher and Head of Year 9
Geography Teacher
Geography Teacher
Geography Teacher
History Teacher, Assistant Headteacher- Quality of Learning
History Teacher
History Teacher
History Teacher, Head of Year 10
History Curriculum
Key Stage 3
Students follow a two year key stage 3 curriculum pathway, choosing their option subjects in Year 8.
Geography, History and RE are usually taught separately at key stage three.
Students are taught in groups according to their ability
Two less able groups are also taught Humanities as a separate course in years 7 and 8
Key Stage 4
The Faculty offers Geography, History and RE as Full Course GCSE
Key Stage 5
The Faculty offers AS and A2 courses in Geography, History, RE and Government and Politics
History Department Specific Information
The History Department has four teaching rooms in the main school and two shared rooms in the sixth form. All
rooms have a computer and interactive whiteboard.
The department follows the following Specifications and Options:GCSE History
AQA History B Modern World.
Year 9 – Year 9 is used as a skills development year where pupils study different History Mysteries. These
mysteries include, ‘Who shot JFK?’, ‘Who was Jack the Ripper?’ and ‘Can terrorism ever be justified?’ GCSE
style exam questions for unit one and two as well as controlled assessment have been planned into the schemes
of learning to best prepare students for the challenges of GCSE.
Year 10 – Weimar Germany 1919-1929, Hitler’s Germany 1933-1945, Controlled Assessment British People in
War.
Year 11 – Race Relations in the USA 1945-1968, International Relations 1945-2001
Year 11 = 100 students, Year 10 = 119 students, Year 9 = 131 students
A Level History
AQA AS:
Unit 1 Paper 1 Change and Consolidation – Britain 1906-51
Unit 2 Paper 2 Historical Issues: Periods of Change – The Impact of Stalin’s Leadership in the USSR, 1924-41
A2:
Unit 3 Paper 3 The State and the People: change and Continuity – Russia and the USSR 1941-1991
Unit 4 Historical Enquiry – Germany from Bismarck to the Berlin Wall, a synoptic look at German History
from 1871-1990
Year 13 – 13 students, Year 12 – 31 students
Extra-Curricular Activities
Humanities visits are frequent and popular. Examples from recent academic years are
A Level RE/History trip to Krakow, Poland
GCSE History trips to Berlin
KS3 History trip to First World War battlefield sites
A Level Geography Fieldwork trip to Tarifa, Spain
GCSE Geography to Morocco and Sicily
KS3 Geography to Paris
KS3 Enrichment trips involving students participating in workshops led by the Anne Frank Trust
Jennifer Bruce
Head of History