History Curriculum Statement of Intent

Our KS3 History curriculum is ambitious and bold in intent. The curriculum intends:

1. To provide our young people with an agreed core of historical knowledge that they can wield in their future study of History and other subjects. Knowledge of the long arc of British history and seminal events and ideas in world history will allow students to understand their contemporary world in historical context. After studying the curriculum, students will be able to contextualise historical examples and metaphors in other settings.
2. To explore and engage with diverse histories that take students beyond their immediate context. The curriculum will provide students with an opportunity to both wrestle with difference and dissect how historical societies have themselves wrestled with difference. If previous British school curriculums have been shaped by the overwhelmingly white European male background of their designers, our curriculum will self consciously attempt to correct this.
3. To equip students with an array of critical skills and an analytical frame of mind. The curriculum will embed opportunities to engage with the work of the historian and develop ‘second-order thinking’ about causation, historical change, source analysis, historical significance and interpretations. Students will also be exposed to difficult texts and supported towards extended historical writing.
4. Through all of this, to cultivate a love of subject that propels students towards a future interest in the past, even if this does not necessarily mean taking the subject at GCSE.

Geography Curriculum Statement of Intent

The GLT Southwest KS3 Geography curriculum is planned to ensure that students ‘have an awareness and appreciation of the human and physical world.  To inspire a sense of awe and wonder and instil a tolerance and appreciation of diverse places, people, and resources.  In order to become an active participant in the future of our planet’. 

The curriculum intends:

1. To enable students to experience a breadth of Geographical knowledge and concepts to ensure that those who do not choose to follow the course to GCSE are still able to meet out set criteria to be a ‘good’ geographer. 
2. To provide our young people with an agreed core of knowledge which will create a solid foundation of both of knowledge and skills to enable all students to succeed at GCSE as well as providing links with both other subjects and the wider world.
3. To explore and engage with a wide range of concepts and ideas which not only enable students to understand their own part of the world but also take students beyond their immediate locality. The curriculum will provide students with an opportunity to both develop their own thinking and challenge them to empathise with issues and debates from further afield. 
4. To equip students with an array of both geographical and problem solving skills and an analytical frame of mind. At the end of each year students will complete a decision making activity which involves acquisition of new knowledge as well as correctly applying previous content in order to make an informed judgement in a range of situations.
5. Through all of this, to cultivate a love of subject that propels students towards a future interest in our planet, even if this does not necessarily mean taking the subject at GCSE.

Religious Studies

In Religious Studies, our intent is that the RS curriculum will extend and deepen their knowledge and understanding of a range of religions and beliefs, recognising their local, national (individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs) and global context. Key questions will allow students to understand how belief influences actions and lives of individuals and groups. Students will be able to recognise RE within other subjects and disciplines.