The teaching of History and Geography at Gilbrook is delivered through the use of Cornerstones Topics which were introduced across both key stages in September 2017.
In History we focus on enabling children to think as historians. We place an emphasis on examining historical artefacts and primary sources and use stories to introduce and bring historical characters
and events to life. Visits to historical sites and museums are carried out to support topic work whenever possible and visitors are encouraged to come into school to share their knowledge and experiences. In History, the teaching of ‘time’, movement of time, and linking events to certain times of the day and days of the week is carried out in appropriate classes. Staff are aware that some children, particularly those with ASC, may find the concept of time difficult and may need to revisit it consistently. Gradually as the
child become more mature, they concentrate on past events, life styles and activities of people in the past.
Geography starts from the child’s immediate environment and the child’s own effect on that environment. Through visits into the local community, their egocentric world is extended through first hand experiences, building up their geographical knowledge and skills. As they become able to tackle more abstract ideas they move onto studying places around the word, hot and cold countries, thinking about what it
is like to live there, how we can look after our environment and looking in more detail about what our environment is like.
In Geography, we encourage children to ask as well as answer questions and offer them the opportunity to use a variety of methods to gain information. This includes maps, data, fieldtrips, photos, pictures,
geographical equipment. Wherever possible, the children take part in practical activities to experience ‘real’ geography.
It is envisaged that teaching History and Geography will provide opportunities for active learning where children take a key role in the investigation.
Aims
The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
- understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
- speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
- can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences,using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied