Head of Faculty
Mrs H. Carr-Brown (h.carr-brown@temac.co.uk)
Geography
Our geography curriculum allows pupils to build knowledge and awareness of the world they live in and the global issues that they will be impacted by or will need an awareness of in their lives beyond the school.
Our curriculum will also ensure that pupils are exposed to both human and physical topics so that they have a sufficient breadth of knowledge but also equal development of the skills that they will need in KS4. Pupils will develop their ability to use geographical skills, data, maps and construct arguments using evidence. These lessons will help them to develop skills that will be crucial in the world of work.
Through the study of geography pupils are given the opportunity to develop an understanding of the opportunities and challenges that they will face in their lives, whilst developing resilience in witnessing how these challenges can be overcome. This aligns with the whole school vision of developing pupils with the skills and knowledge to contribute positively to their communities and be active, global citizens.
In order to be active citizens, pupils will explore key geographical themes such as globalisation, development, migration, climate change, healthcare and sustainability. All of these themes are impacting local and international communities and will be hotly debated topics in forthcoming political debates that our pupils will vote on in the future. Through exploring these topics now, pupils will be encouraged to form their own opinions on these themes and consider how they can be a positive force for change.
Our curriculum offers our pupils a wide-ranging and diverse experience, where they can explore their local area, the country they live in and the wider world. This will give pupils an idea of the opportunities and challenges they face in their own country and allow them to empathise with others around the world. Therefore, the school wide values are embedded within the subject. Through their geographical journey, emphasis is placed on respect and care for people regardless of nationality or cultural beliefs. Pupils also consider the reasons for local and global inequality and evaluate the actions that could be taken to alleviate this. Through this process pupils are encouraged to show hard work and ambition for themselves but also for the human race as a whole.
History
Our history curriculum allows pupils to build a substantive and essential body of knowledge of both British and international history, that will play part in all pupils’ cultural understanding. Our curriculum will also ensure that pupils are building the disciplinary knowledge of an historian alongside developing skills that will be crucial in the world of work; for example, studying conflicting interpretations or learning to draw conclusions from a diverse evidence base. Further to this, through our extensive and carefully considered schemes of work at Key Stage 3, students consider topics both individually and thematically – considering the significance of individual events and people alongside concepts like change, continuity, conflict, religion and protest.
Our History GCSE engages students with a broad and diverse study of the history of Britain and the wider world proving them with skills that will support progression to further study of history and a wide range of other subjects. The GCSE has been chosen with interesting topics in mind that have modern relevance to the lives of our students and allowing them to consider the validity of a variety of different interpretations of the past.
Key concepts underpin both the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 curriculum in history – focused around the important historical ideas of continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. Assessments at Key Stage 3 are written with these in mind and at Key Stage 4 model the assessments they would complete at the end of the course.
Religious Education
Parents/carers have the right to ask that their child does not take part in Religious Education and collective acts of worship. This request needs to be made in writing to the school. Parents/carers are expected to provide alternative work for students for who this applies.
Pupils will be encouraged to investigate the historical, sociological and spiritual context of different beliefs and worldviews, building understanding of key beliefs and thinking, people, places and practices, and the impact this has on people today. They will develop deeper understanding of a range of religious traditions and philosophical approaches and question their own beliefs in a safe and respectful environment. We will help pupils to express themselves and evaluate other views to effectively come to conclusions about issues connected to spiritual and ethical topics.
Consequently, our KS3 curriculum utilises enquiry questions to allow pupils to explore religious traditions and philosophical approaches in greater depth. This KS3 curriculum aims to build a foundation of knowledge and skills essential for greater specialisation within our AQA Religious Studies GCSE. The KS4 curriculum provides an in-depth study of the beliefs, teachings and practices in Christianity and Islam, as well as application of religious beliefs to key ethical issues.
Sociology
The aim of the Sociology curriculum is to equip students with the appropriate knowledge and skills needed to be able to understand and explain the causes of human behaviour and the impact of this behaviour on wider society. We do this using quality first teaching which ensures students understand underlying Sociological principles and can apply them in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
Our curriculum in Sociology supports the REACH values of the school. Students are constantly challenged to work collaboratively and think independently when engaging in all lessons and class debates. Through teacher modelling, we encourage our students to demonstrate manners, respect in Sociology lessons. This allows students to express themselves in a confident manner. Lesson materials are engaging to promote topical discussion and encourage students to develop an enquiring mind. As a knowledge-based curriculum we believe that knowledge underpins and enables the application of skills; both are entwined. Content is delivered to students and then built upon through a variety of practice questions, with regular quality feedback being given to support student progress. The knowledge acquired then allows students to develop their analytical and critical thinking skills.
Cultural Capital is embedded throughout the sociology curriculum. Our students are introduced to a wide variety of viewpoints from some of the most influential Sociologists throughout history. We study the impact that their work has had on the world we live in and students are encouraged to make links between their studies and real-life examples. They are expected to analyse the relative contributions of competing theories in order to discuss their impact on our understanding of human behaviour and society as a whole.
In addition to our aims, our curriculum design includes revisiting and building on existing knowledge. We ensure the level of challenge is high enough for the most able, with scaffold and support available for students who need it.
