Humanities
Here at Pippins we believe that it is important for children to understand how the events of the past and the world around them help shape the way they live their lives today.
Geography
Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments.
Geography is taught through eight big ideas:
- location
- physical features
- human features
- physical processes
- human processes
- techniques
- sustainability and environmental factors.
We ensure that children are able to make connections between different parts of the world by undertaking local studies and comparing their findings to the part of the world they are currently studying. Making these links allow children to understand how different cultures and members of society live in a different way to themselves.
When studying place in other curriculum subjects, the children consider the geographical context of that place for example:
Which hemisphere is it in?
Which continent is it in?
What is the climate like there?
What bodies of water are nearby?
Where is is in relation to the Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and other places already studied?
What is its line of latitude and longitude?
What timezone is it in?
What animals live there and how do the people live there?
What would we see there (human and physical features)?
History
The History curriculum states that children must be taught to:
- Understand changes within living memory
- Significant events beyond living memory (e.g. The Great Fire of London)
- The lives of significant individuals from the past (e.g. Queen Victoria)
- Changes across history from the stone age to the Anglo-Saxon settlements that have impacted Britain
- A local history study
Developing children’s sense of chronology is a vital part of understanding the history that has led us to today. To do this, we use timelines to show how events and civilisations have grown over time. In addition to developing chronology, we spend time making links between today’s societies and previous eras to show the growing differences in diet, culture and quality of life.
To ensure the curriculum in each key stage is covered, we as a team have split different time periods into designated year groups. This allows us to be able to teach a topic in detail without it being repeated by the children the following year. Each unit we cover is supported by appropriate and relevant resources that meet key objectives. Espresso Education has a range of short video clips encompassing information vital to achieving objectives in the new National Curriculum.