Humanities

Curriculum Intent

Geography

At Paxman Academy, we want our students to leave each Geography lesson with an enriched understanding of how the world works.

As our students progress through Key Stage 3, their growing knowledge of the world should deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes across the world, and how different landscapes and environments are formed and used.

Students benefit from studying a broad range of topics taught discretely, with opportunities to make synoptic links as the complex web of global geography is studied. Physical geography topics such as weather and climate, tectonics and ecosystems are interspersed with human geography topics such as development, population and urbanisation. In-depth place studies allow students to apply their geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to many processes, as well as regions across the world, including Africa, the Middle East and Russia.

Our curriculum has been designed to cumulatively build upon each topic, so that previously acquired knowledge is reviewed and developed throughout the curriculum, leading to knowledgeable students who understand and recall key features of human and physical geographical processes. Each Geography topic is placed within specific locations, so that students are able to locate the geographical concepts they are learning about in the context of the wider world. This also enables our students to develop a real sense of place knowledge locally and globally as they progress through the curriculum, whether they are studying development in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or how glacial processes formed the landscape of the Lake District.

Geographical skills are embedded throughout the curriculum, allowing students to build skills to communicate effectively in a range of mediums, including through graphs, maps, statistics, diagrams, speech and writing. Each unit is carefully planned to ensure that we are building up the powerful knowledge that we believe will enable our students to understand the world around them, while also developing the skills of decision-making, assessing and evaluating different geographical issues, encouraging our students to think like Geographers.

 Geography Curriculum OfferGeography Roadmap

History

The History curriculum at Paxman Academy has been designed to empower our students by making them informed about who we are, why we are here, how Britain has been shaped, and how we can understand the modern world.

Our chronological Key Stage 3 curriculum enables our students to improve at history by building up an increasingly complex knowledge of the past, which relies upon their understanding of prior topics. For example, our students’ understanding of the religious rollercoaster that is 16th century England is enriched by the fact that they have a secure knowledge of the origins of Christianity in England, following Augustine’s conversion of the Anglo-Saxon pagans in the 6th century. Our students develop a knowledge-rich understanding of the past, which allows them to really secure a deep understanding of how Britain’s history has developed and changed, as well as that of the wider world.

Each topic studied is carefully planned to focus on important substantive concepts that are revisited throughout the curriculum, such as empire, trade, tax and rebellion. The frequency of these concepts within the curriculum ensures that pupils are able to make concise and analytical links between events, time periods and regimes, and in doing so become skilled historians. A Year 8 student, for example, studying rebellions from the left and right in post-war Germany, is already familiar with the concept having studied numerous examples across history prior to this point, whether it is the Harrying of the North, or the Pilgrimage of Grace. As each topic is led by a fertile enquiry question, there is a real sense of purpose within each lesson. 

Our students accumulate secure knowledge over time, which really engages with them with the discipline of history. Through these topics, our students are able to use their knowledge and understanding to immerse themselves in current and world affairs, informed by their deep understanding of the past.

PRE

The philosophy, religion and ethics curriculum intends to align itself to the Paxman Academy’s vision of ‘Building Brighter Futures’ by showing all students that the diversity in the world that we live in is something to be admired and understood so that we can succeed collectively. The way that we intend to do this is by following the Essex Agreed Syllabus for 2022, the aims of the syllabus are to create a new opportunity for worldviews to be explored through three key lenses: Philosophy, Theology and Sociology (Human Sciences). Every student will be given the opportunity to use their knowledge to question the ever changing world that we live in, through guided discussions and structured debates in order to strengthen their minds and understand complex worldviews. This ensures that we are linked to Paxman Academy’s  vision to create students who are prepared for the ‘the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain.’ Part of Sigma Trust’s values is to ensure that students are respectful and are held accountable for the voices, thoughts and actions. This is an essential element of PRE at Paxman, due to the mixed cultural and religious background of the students, it is more important than ever to show all students that it is through education, and engaging our minds that students can be successful and have bright futures ahead of them.

As per the Essex Agreed Syllabus for 2022, all of the worldviews are covered throughout KS3 and KS4. As per the demographic of the school and local area, we have chosen to focus on Christianity, Islam and Humanism. All students should feel that they are represented and can reflect on their own beliefs throughout their time in PRE, but also so that they can see the world through the lenses of their peers and the people that they are likely to come across when they leave Paxman. The EAS for 2022 also allows students to investigate key questions, therefore each topic has an enquiry question that students will be delving into, they will need to be independent as well as collaborate to successfully tackle each element of the enquiry. Students are encouraged to use Socratic Questioning when using the lenses as part of their PRE skills. Evaluation is critical to the study of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics and therefore it is the way that we expect students to present their knowledge.

Using the Ofsted Review into Religious Education (May 2021) we have worked to cover any previous gaps in any prior curriculums. Therefore, there are fifteen key enquiries so that ‘content is sufficient for pupils to grasp a bigger picture’. Students are given in lessons and via homework tasks the chance to express ‘their own personal knowledge (for example, their own prior assumptions)’ as mentioned above. Assessment is continuing to be reviewed so that it is inline with the latest research and aligns with Paxman Academy’s Assessment Policy, to this end, a mixture of summative and formative assessment is being used throughout the year to build upon their knowledge. Formative assessments are interleaving with previous knowledge from earlier enquiries, not just those being studied. Whilst summative assessments are written and give students the opportunity to show depth of knowledge, as well as fully express themselves. 

The PRE curriculum plays an important role in preparing pupils for adult life, employment and lifelong learning. It helps children and young people become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. It gives them the knowledge, skills and understanding to discern and value truth and goodness, strengthening their capacity for making moral judgements and for evaluating different types of commitment to make positive and healthy choices. As a department, we believe that our diverse curriculum means that our students will be able to go out into the world as more morally conscious, informed and well-rounded individuals.

Please note that parents/carers are able to withdraw their child from all or parts of the Religious Education/Religion & Worldviews curriculum should they wish.