Howley Grange Primary School
Policy Document
Humanities Policy-Led by Mrs M McEwan
Aims and objectives
In line with our integrated approach to curriculum design we have combined History and
Geography under the curriculum heading ‘Time and Place.’ Lessons are planned to enable
children to develop the required knowledge and skills within each subject, children then receive
opportunities to deepen their understanding by applying their learning across the curriculum,
through our themed approach.
The aims of history in our school are:
 to foster in children an interest in the past and to develop an understanding that
enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer;
 to enable children to know about significant events in British history and to appreciate
how things have changed over time;
 to develop a sense of chronology;
 to know and understand how the British system of democratic government has
developed and, in so doing, to contribute to a child’s citizenship education;
 to understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture and to study aspects of
European history;
 to have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider
world;
 to help children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a
sense of their cultural heritage;
 to develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and
presentation.
The aims of geography are:
 to enable children to gain knowledge and understanding of places in the world;
 to increase children’s knowledge of other cultures and, in so doing, teach a respect and
understanding of what it means to be a positive citizen in a multi-cultural country;
 to allow children to learn graphic skills, including how to use, draw and interpret maps;
 to enable children to know and understand environmental problems at a local, regional
and global level;
 to encourage in children a commitment to sustainable development and an appreciation
of what ‘global citizenship’ means;
 to develop a variety of other skills, including those of enquiry, problem solving, ICT,
investigation and how to present their conclusions in the most appropriate way.
 to use appropriate geographical vocabulary
 to use a variety of sources including fieldwork
Curriculum Planning
Our curriculum is delivered through an integrated approach, using a themed approach of a
creative curriculum, though history and geography can be taught as subjects in their own right,
offering specific knowledge, skills and concepts unique to themselves. History and Geography are
planned under the heading of ‘Time and Place’. Planning meets the needs of all learners through
differentiated tasks, varied teaching and learning styles, use of a variety of resources / artefacts
and fieldwork/historical trips. Planning is based upon the National Curriculum programmes of
study.
Teaching and Learning
The Key Stage 1 History areas of study, teach pupils about the every day life, work, leisure and
culture of people in the past. The areas of study ensure that children progress from familiar
situations to more distant times and places. They are given opportunities to investigate changes
in their own lives and those of their family and friends around them and aspects of the way of life
of people in Britain in the past, beyond living memory. They are taught about the lives of different
kinds of famous British men and women and also past events.
Through the Key Stage 2 History Study Units, pupils are taught about important episodes and
developments in Britain’s past, from Roman to modern times, about ancient civilisations and the
history of other parts of the world. They have the opportunity to investigate local history.
Geography at Key Stage 1, increases children’s knowledge of their local area and the wider
world beyond. Their geographical enquiries inside and outside the classroom encourage them to
ask questions about people, places and environments.
In our Geography teaching at Key Stage 2, we deliver studies of localities in the UK and abroad
including a less economically developed country and a region of the EC.
Assessment
Children’s work in Humanities is assessed by making informal judgements of children during
lessons and the marking and commenting on children’s pieces of work. Once a unit of work is
completed, a summary judgement of the work of each pupil is made in relation to the National
Curriculum levels of attainment. Termly attainment grades are recorded in info template on the
shared area providing the basis for assessing the progress of the child, reporting to parents and to
pass information on to the next teacher.
Resources
We have sufficient resources in our school to be able to teach all aspects of Humanities. We keep
these resources in a central store where there is a box of equipment for each unit of work. We
also keep a collection of geography equipment which the children use to gather weather data and
a set of atlases for both key stages. In the library we have a good supply of geography and history
topic books and a range of educational software to support the children’s individual research. The
LCP scheme provides differentiated worksheets for topics covered.
Fieldwork is integral to geography teaching and we include as many opportunities as we can to
involve children in practical geographical research and enquiry.
We also offer Year 6 the opportunity to take part in a residential visit to Astley Burf.
Role of Subject Leader
The Humanities subject leader is responsible for monitoring the standard of the children’s work
and the quality of teaching in the subject.
The Humanities subject leader keeps samples of the children’s work in a portfolio which shows the
expected level of achievement in Humanities in each year of the school.
The subject leader is also responsible for supporting colleagues in the teaching of geography and
history, for being informed about current developments in the subject, and for providing a strategic
lead and direction for the subject in the school. The subject leader writes a subject development
plan in which s/he outlines how the subject area will be developed in a given time scale, providing
strategic leadership for the development of humanities across the school.
Reviewed Jan 2013
Michelle McEwan
Date of next Review Sept 2014