History and geography are crucial to the curriculum at Hawley as they are the focus of two of our three termly topics when children are immersed in each of these subjects and make links with key concepts from prior topics.
At Hawley, children learn about the history of this country and the wider world, and how events have influenced and still influence the world today. Children learn about continuity, change, cause and consequence in history and apply this learning through posing questions, writing accurate accounts and narratives. Much of our written work comes from our humanities teaching, and links are made in twice-weekly assemblies when we regularly look at current affairs.
We approach history, like all subjects, with a critical mind, encouraging children to contrast and compare different accounts, identifying why there might be different interpretations of events.
When the topic focus is geography, children develop awareness of where they live and how it is similar and different to the world beyond. They learn key facts about this country and beyond, for example, the names of oceans, rivers, and capital cities. Children spend a term each year finding out about one place (London, the Caribbean, the Amazon basin…) – its physical and human geography, culture, traditions and what it’s like to live there. Our many trips and school journeys incorporate geographical skills such as map work, looking at aerial photos and making comparative studies.