Humanities Intent Statement

At Westover, our rich and varied history and geography curriculums have our school visions and values at their heart, promoting especially Mutual Respect, Tolerance and Democracy through our learning about other cultures, civilizations and landscapes different from our own.

Our curriculum is designed to both teach the skills outlined in the National Curriculum and to recognise the unique heritage and geography of our school in a coastal city so that our children understand the relevance and importance of the subjects in our daily lives.  The history and geography curriculums have been developed to sequence and build on a range of knowledge and skills to support our children’s future learning and to enable them to take their places as rounded citizens of the community. We look to provide opportunities for children to examine, interpret and evaluate a range of primary and secondary sources for information, encouraging them to develop the life skill of questioning the bias and accuracy of information.

Our history and geography curriculums have high ambitions for all learners, regardless of their starting points, and allow children to articulate and express their learning in a range of ways. We look for all children to become confident and articulate in expressing their learning and to take pride in their Maths and Literacy work in Humanities.

We encourage children to think and question like historians, archaeologists and geographers, using the knowledge and concepts they learn to underpin high expectations of enquiry and reflection on how the world has changed and why and how our geography impacts our daily lives.

Through themed days, visitors, and visits to museums and sites of historical interest, we develop the children’s understanding of the peoples, chronology, lands and important events they have encountered in their learning to empower them as members of the school and wider community, preparing them for the next stage of their education.