Humanities Faculty – Cansfield

Humanities

Welcome to Humanities

The aim of the Humanities Department at Cansfield is to develop in students a real interest, love and passion for the Humanities subjects which we believe are of central importance to understanding the world and our place in it. The Humanities department is committed in ensuring that all pupils make excellent progress in History, Geography, RE and Philosophy, and Life Studies, through experiencing excellent teaching which engages and motivates them to work hard and succeed. Our Life Studies curriculum incorporates Personal Social Health Education (PSHE), Citizenship and Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG). All pupils will have the opportunity to continue studying Humanities subjects to GCSE, and will have been prepared well so that they are ready and able to succeed following their strong foundation from their KS3 study.

We aim to develop in students the skills, enthusiasm and understanding necessary to become life-long learners, and to foster an open-mindedness towards other people and cultures, as well as a sense of responsibility to the world around us. We believe the Humanities subjects have the power to improve every individual’s quality of life in a spiritual and intellectual sense, as well as helping develop many skills which are vital in the modern working world. We also believe the Humanities subjects are uniquely crucial to the well-being of our local community, our national society and the global population as a whole; only with an understanding of our environments, climate, religious beliefs and historical roots, can the human race advance in a sustainable, peaceful and successful manner. We have high expectations of all students and, above all, want all students to enjoy their education.

In order to develop and foster that love and passion for learning our subjects, we as a department are proud of the opportunities we give our students to experience different places on enrichment trips. We are committed to ensuring all students have the opportunity to visit various places; Year 7 visit Conwy Castle in Wales, Year 8 have the opportunity to visit Quarry Bank Mill to gain an understanding of life in a nineteenth century cotton mill. Over the past three years we have taken students to exciting places such as New York as part of their Citizenship studies, students have also visited Iceland to gain an understanding of the magnificent geographical features of that country, students gained an understanding of the development and growth of fascism during a visit to Munich, the birth place of the Nazi party and Nuremberg, the most German of German cities according to Adolf Hitler. We have also visited Berlin to gain an understanding of the rise and fall of democracy in Germany and we also visited Krakow, which was saw students visit the Auschwitz Birkenau Concentration Camp. In February 2019, 54 students went on a trip to the battlefields of France and Belgium to see for themselves the monuments and cemetery’s commemorating the fallen who gave their lives during the First World War.

Curriculum Statement

The curriculum across the Humanities subjects (History, Geography, RE and Philosophy, and Life Studies) has been designed to offer our students a broad and balanced diet of disciplinary knowledge which is taught in a sequentially sequenced order. Students will study overarching themes that allow clear progression through the curriculum in a logical order, so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and towards clearly defined end points.