Humanities
Our Faculty Mission Statement is:
In the Humanities family we aim to promote education of the past, present and future to make sense of our world today. We are in scholarly pursuit of excellence by creating global Catholic citizens who are enthusiastic lifelong learners. With faith in God our learning is a journey to achieve success at St. James’ and beyond.
The Humanities faculty aims to build global Catholic citizens by developing pupils’ wider awareness of local, national and global issues both past and present. We build our curriculum around the British values of democracy, power, freedom and the rule of law, whilst working closely with other departments to form cross-curricular links.
The study of Geography should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them throughout their lives. We aim to cultivate an enthusiasm about pupils’ local, national and global environment. This is achieved by adopting a wide variety of teaching methods and assessments including participation in fieldwork activities.
The overall theme of Year 7 year is Place and Space, where students understand our position in the world. Students look at the relationship between human geography (Population, India) and physical geography (tectonics, glaciation, natural resources) and how one affects the other. Students are introduced to the theme of climate change, a topic that dominates all of Key Stage 3, as well as to skills that are essential in Geography, such as OS map skills and data analysis.
The overall theme of Year 8 is Nature and Society, where students continue to acknowledge the relationship between people and the environment. Students look at the power of nature (weather, coasts, deserts) and how it can restrict humans. Students also look at differences in society around the globe (Japan, the Middle East, the UK) and how human actions in turn have an impact on nature (Industry).
The theme of Year 9 is Global Change. In Rivers, students look at how rivers change the land, providing examples from around the world, whilst also looking at how human actions can cause an impact, such as during flooding. Students then progress to human geography by investigating the development gap in Africa and then by deciding whether Russia is a superpower. Russia has a very significant relationship with the following topic of Energy, which looks at sustainable alternatives to non-renewable energy resources. The final topic of Year 9 focuses on a series of current, global issues, for example, tourism, the rainforest and migration.
- Geography Curriculum Progression Model Year 7
- Geography Curriculum Progression Model Year 8
- Geography Curriculum Progression Model Year 9
- Geography Curriculum Progression Model Year 10
- Geography Curriculum Progression Model Year 11
The History department follows a strict chronological framework that features events starting from the Anglo-Saxon era up to the modern day. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum that covers a variety of topics and develops pupils’ skills of analysis, evaluation and source interpretation. We focus on the significance of individuals, why events both big and small happened and why people can have different opinions and interpretations of the same event. We aim to create individuals who can write, think and understand the importance of the past and its links to the present day.
Beginning History in Year 7, we assess baseline skills of chronology, source evaluation and bias. Our curriculum starts with the Anglo-Saxon and Viking era and how it links to the Norman Conquest. Students then go on to look at how the Normans established control and the changes to everyday Medieval life that this caused. From here we jump to the Reformation of the 16th century and the subsequent upheavals in Tudor and Stuart religion. We finish the year studying the English Civil War.
In Year 8 we look at themes of power, freedom and protest. Through a study of the Black Peoples of the Americas, students learn about the horrors of the Triangular Trade and the movement towards the abolition of slavery. Pupils then explore the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s and the vital role played by Martin Luther King Jr and other protestors. A study of the British Empire builds upon the wider significance of trade and slavery. Pupils analyse both the amazing achievements and complex legacy of the British Empire. Interlinking with this is our next topic, the Industrial Revolution which explores how the modern age was created in our very own city of Manchester. This topic of industrialisation coupled with our previous study of imperialism forms the basis of our final topic, the causes of the First World War.
Moving on to Year 9, pupils study the First World War in depth looking especially at the different theatres of war, the human side of conflict and the importance of Remembrance. The failure to achieve peace in the inter-war years is then explored by looking at the Treaty of Versailles. To coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day, we then study the origins and horrors of the Holocaust. We challenge deniers and evaluate its relevance to the present day. We then learn about the causes and main events of the Second World War, directly analysing sources that show key chronological events and turning points in this terrible conflict.
In both History and Geography, the courses we have designed in KS3 link directly to skills that will aid them in their GCSEs. Pupils will look at the wider picture of events and processes so they can place moments of time and place in its context and can link it to other subjects. We complement pupils’ development with enrichment opportunities including bi-annual trips to Iceland and Berlin, with an annual visit to the Western Front.
