R.E., history and geography - Gulworthy Academy

R.E.

Intent

The principal aim of RE at Gulworthy is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live, so that pupils can gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief, reflecting on their own ideas and ways of living.

Implementation

The Religious Education curriculum is led and overseen by the R.E. lead. A regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice will contribute to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further.

We follow the Devon Agreed sequences, underpinned by the core concepts of Understanding Christianity. Teaching is through the exploration of a key question, and follows an enquiry-based approach.

We study Christianity and one other world religion every year: in KS1 this religion is Judaism; in KS2, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Sikhism.

There are four steps in teaching and learning:

Engagement
Investigation
Evaluation
Expression

By following these four steps, it promotes religious literacy by encouraging the children to gain knowledge and understanding of a range of religions worldwide. Using balanced discussions about religions and beliefs, the children develop consideration in regards to belonging, believing and behaving.

Other ways in which we promote a broad religious education is by reading stories, using real life examples that are in the news and bringing children’s attention to celebrations and traditions from around the world. This will ensure that all children understand the British values alongside excepting others’ beliefs.

‘Understanding Christianity’ focuses on a small number of core concepts in order to enable a deeper understanding by pupils. It ensures coherence by selecting core concepts which reflect a view of biblical Christianity as following a salvation narrative. It uses a ‘spiral’ curriculum, where pupils revisit these core concepts in different contexts as they move through the school. These varied encounters deepen pupils’ understanding of the meaning of these concepts within the overall ‘big story’ of the Bible. It explores ways in which belief in the core concepts has an impact on the diverse Christian community and on the individual lives of Christians. It weaves in opportunities for pupils to reflect upon these ideas in relation to their understanding of religion and belief, including their own responses.

Impact

At Gulworthy, we seek to ensure that all children in our school are educated to develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally to enable them to better understand themselves and others and to cope with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of living in a rapidly changing, multicultural world. Through their study of religion and world views, children will develop the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of a range of faiths and non-faith beliefs; they will recognise that these beliefs and practices are important to people and impact the way they live. Through this understanding, children will develop compassion and tolerance for the beliefs of others.

Our RE lead is: Melody Sterry

Gulworthy RE Scheme of Work Overview

Vocabulary Progression in RE

History

Intent

Our principle aim of history is that through the teaching of history skills, knowledge and understanding, pupils learn about significant people, events and places from both the recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in the local area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. Children think critically about fact and opinion and use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in an overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. Where possible, use is made of the local environment and community, and children learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways.

In line with the 2014 National Curriculum: History Programme of Study, we aim to ensure that all pupils:

Become increasingly critical and analytical thinkers
Possess a secure understanding of the chronology of the British Isles and other import periods of HistoryTo discover links and connections to the History they learn and the wider community and localityFurther their knowledge and explanations of change and continuity over time with regards to the history of the British Isles and other societies and epochs
Differentiate between source types and explain how interpretations in History may differ
Draw on similarities and differences within given time frames and across previously taught History
Enquire in to Historical themed questions and form their own opinions and interpretation of the past
gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of key vocabulary such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’

Implementation

The curriculum is led and overseen by Mr Johnson. As history lead, a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice will contribute to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further.

The teaching, learning and sequencing of the history curriculum is as follows:

The ‘Connected Curriculum’ is implemented to ensure coverage and progression in all skills relating to history. Moreover, there is an opportunity within each session to revisit historical skills that need further consolidation and to use new knowledge to enforce prior skills.
In Key Stage 1 the units start with the present, the local or the known before then looking back. This is normally followed up by casting forward. For example, children begin by looking at a current great British explorer. The study of this allows children to link it to exploring in the past before the modern technology that the children take for granted and then to cast ahead to consider what exploring might be like in the future.
In lower Key Stage 2 (Year 3 and 4), during the years where children are developing and cementing their understanding of how time periods relate to each other, the units are organised chronologically. By upper Key Stage 2 children are not only expected to link areas of their current learning to other areas studied but also to link what they are studying to what else is happening around the world at the same time. For example, when studying the Shang Dynasty, children will make comparisons with the nature of the artefacts that remain from other contemporaneous Bronze Age societies elsewhere in the world, most notably in Britain and in Ancient Egypt.
The use of timelines will part of teaching in KS2 where a class timeline will be created along with an individual timeline given to all pupils which will allow them to see how their topic of study fits with others.

Progression is set out in order to build and develop the following:

Key Skills:

Chronological understanding and knowledge of time including, the characteristic features of periods, the use of language of time periods and the passing of time and the use of timelines
Historical enquiry, the use of evidence and communicating history
Interpreting history which includes explaining what they think and understanding that historians and people in history have a different point of view

Key Concepts:

Continuity and change (contrast) during and between periods
Cause and consequence (why something happened and what impact did it then have)
Similarities and differences within a period: social diversity including beliefs and attitudes
Significant events and people

Lessons will develop long term memory by allowing for repetition of learning within the year and year on year. This will be further increased with regular retrieval low stakes testing.
Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary is taught within the unit and reinforced throughout the year.
SMSC is threaded through the history curriculum to link history to their lives and explore their heritage and cultural capital of the locality and the country.

Impact

Children will become increasingly critical and analytical within their historical thinking, making informed and balanced judgements based on their and others’ knowledge of the past.
Children will become increasingly aware of how historical events have shaped the world that they currently live in.
They will develop have a better understanding of local, national and world history.
Children will develop enquiry skills to pursue their own interests within a topic.
Where applicable, children will have encountered or participated in high-quality visits/visitors to further appreciate the impact of history.
Children are able to retain prior-learning and explicitly make connections between what they have previously learned and what they are currently learning.
Children will confidently use the language of history.

EYFS

History is encompassed in the EYFS through Understanding of the world which includes Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities and The Natural World. At Lamerton and Gulworthy children begin and continue to develop an understanding of history through topic-based learning. In addition, we encourage children to reflect on their own special events and express their own past experiences. Children have a leaning environment enriched with topic based historical resources to enhance children’s senses and curiosity and to incorporate into their imaginative play. A variety of themes help children to develop an understanding of their own identity, similarities and differences in both appearance and cultural routines. Furthermore, PSED allows children to discuss with each other their feelings and understanding of the world through their own experience. In addition, the Characteristics of Effective Learning within the EYFS, encourage children to explore their world around them. By engaging with objects and environments that they see, teachers encourage children to explore, question and develop curiosity about the history and significance surrounding them.

Long Term Overview Gulworthy

Progression of knowledge, skills and vocab in history

Vocabulary Progression in history

Geography

Intent

Through the teaching of geographical skills, knowledge and understanding, pupils better learn about the interaction of human beings with their environments at a variety of scales from local to global. At Gulworthy our geography curriculum will engage and motivate children to see the world through the eyes of young geographers.

We will deliver a curriculum that:

Inspires a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people
Equips children with an understanding of diverse places, people, resources and environments around them
Allows children to build on prior learning about physical and human processes and the formation and use of landscapes and environments
Develops an understanding that the Earth’s features are interconnected and change over time
Encourages exploration of their own environment and challenges pupils to make connections between their local surroundings and that of contrasting settlements
Use the local area and community as well as the wider world to develop geographical skills and knowledge
Sequentially builds upon children’s basic geographical knowledge.

Implementation

The curriculum is led and overseen by Mr Johnson. As geography lead, a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice will contribute to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further.

The teaching, learning and sequencing of the geography curriculum is as follows:

The ‘Connected Curriculum’ is implemented to ensure coverage and progression in all skills and knowledge relating to geography. Moreover, there is an opportunity within each session to revisit geographical skills that need further consolidation and to use new knowledge to enforce prior skills.
Educational visits to enhance their cultural capital and where applicable links to geography will be made to develop the children’s topical learning
A geography progression of skills that is organised into the following main themes based on the geographical association recommendations: locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical knowledge and skills and fieldwork for each year group
Throughout Key Stage 1 we challenge and support our children to carry out geographical investigations which enable them to use and apply appropriate subject vocabulary, subject tools (including maps, aerial photographs and graphical data and fieldwork skills) to recognise, identify, describe, observe, reason and begin to explain in simple terms the interaction of people with their environments.
Through Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4), geographical learning and teaching builds on the knowledge and understanding, skills and outcomes at Key Stage 1, and the pupils are encouraged to reach explanations and conclusions about topics, places and issues they have studied. Pupils are expected to base their understanding f on data they have collected. Pupils will also begin to be able to see the world through the perspective of different stakeholders i.e. people and things that have an interest in or are connected to an issue or place.
At Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6) pupils will focus big questions that extend the children’s subject skills so that they are able to make judgements about things they learn both from their own personal perspective and through empathising with the position of others. Children are actively encouraged to apply what they have learned in one context to another and to understand concepts as well more discrete areas of knowledge which they learned and understood e.g. being aware of the fact that a seaside beach is only one example of how the land meets the sea and that ‘coast’ Through engaging with the Connected Geography units, pupils in years 5 and 6 will be encouraged to not only apply and use their previously learned knowledge and skills, but also hypothesise about the interaction of people with their environments.

Impact

As children progress through Gulworthy they develop a deep knowledge, understanding and appreciation for their local area and its place within the wider geographical context.
Children will deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and environments.
Opportunities for children to explore the outdoor learning environments, both within the school grounds and local community.
Our children will be confident geographers and be able to clearly discuss their learning from past and current topics, as well as explain their next steps.
Out-of-class opportunities ensure geography is ongoing and embedded ensuring children to take responsibility for looking after their environments and prepare them for their next steps.
Children have a good general locational knowledge.

EYFS

In the EYFS Geography is encompassed in ‘Understanding of the world’ and incorporates children understanding of Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities and The Natural World. From an early age, the children at Lamerton and Gulworthy learn about different cultures, beliefs and routines. Children explore what makes them unique as an individual as well as discussing similarities and differences of their homes and families and their environments. Our environment is decorated with images, stories, and objects from different places, providing children with many opportunities to explore and engage in different ways of living. Utilising our indoor and outdoor environments children are encouraged to explore the different features of their natural world and investigate how things change throughout time as well as enquiring what homes natural objects can provide. We promote methods of caring for the wider world beginning with recycling, whilst also modelling respect for living things and encouraging children to think about how we can make the environment safe and pleasant for all living things.

Long term overview plan Gulworthy

Geography knowledge and skills progression

Vocabulary Progression in geography

R.E.

History

Geography

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