Humanities is a fundamental subject at Grainville School. Through the combination of the three subject areas: Geography, History and Religious Education students gain a wider understanding of the world we live in. Geography allows for students to develop their knowledge of how the world works and how humans interact with it. History gives a valuable insight into what has happened on our planet so far and facilitates the modern generation to learn from the mistakes, but also amazing discoveries, of the past. Religious Education broadens students’ appreciation of religious viewpoints across the world, and helps promote understanding, tolerance, and interest for different cultures and religions.
KS3 Humanities:
KS3 Humanities is taught in a rotation system to allow students to embed their understanding through in depth units of learning. Students receive three lessons per week of Humanities, and across each academic year they will complete three 12 lesson units of each subject. An overview is shown below:
Geography:
Geography-Learning-Journey| Autumn term | Spring term | Summer term | |
| Y7 | Map Skills | Local Issues, Global challenges | Our Urban World |
| Y8 | Coasts | Development | Weather & Climate |
| Y9 | Plate Tectonics | Population | Climate Change |
History:
History-Learning-Journey-2025-26| Autumn term | Spring term | Summer term | |
| Y7 | Medicine Through Time | The Norman Conquest | Medieval Struggles |
| Y8 | Exploration and Empire | Transatlantic Slave Trade | The Industrial Revolution |
| Y9 | World War One | The Interwar Years / Roaring Twenties in America | World War Two |
Religious Education:
RE-Learning-Journey| Autumn term | Spring term | Summer term | |
| Y7 | What is a worldview? | Religious Rebels | Living Faith |
| Y8 | How the world thinks | Living Religion | Magic and Mystery |
| Y9 | Sacrifice and Salvation | Living the good life | The world beyond |
KS4 Humanities:
As part of the GCSE options process, students can choose to study one or more of the Humanities subjects. Students have three lessons per week across the two year course in Years 10 and 11.
Geography:
We follow the AQA GCSE Geography curriculum. This course studies a range of physical and human geographical themes to enable students to foster a deep understanding of our planet. We hope it stimulates an enthusiasm for the world around us and an interest in some of the most pressing challenges facing the world today.
| Paper 1 – Living with the physical environment | Paper 2 – Challenges in the human environment | Paper 3 – Geographical applications |
| The Challenge of Natural Hazards | Urban Issues & Challenges | A – Issue Evaluation |
| The Living World | The Changing Economic World | B – Fieldwork |
| Physical Landscapes in the UK | The Challenge of Resource Management |
History:
We follow the Edexcel GCSE History curriculum. This course studies a range of historical periods and topics to enable students to gain a broader understanding of the past. The course begins with a thematic study of Medicine in Britain, which allows for a greater chronological understanding from the Medieval period to present day. This is then followed by more in depth exploration of three areas of History. Throughout the two years, students develop their ability to work with both sources from the past, and historians’ interpretations of key events.
| Paper 1 – Thematic Study: Medicine in Britain c1250-present | Paper 2 – Period study and British depth study: Early Elizabethan England & British America | Paper 3 – Modern depth study: Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939 |
| Medieval medicine | Elizabethan government | Weimar Republic |
| Renaissance medicine | Challenges to Elizabeth: home and abroad | Early Nazi Party / Rise of Adolf Hitler |
| Industrial medicine | Life and culture in Elizabethan England | Democracy to dictatorship |
| Modern medicine | Early British settlement in America | Life in Nazi Germany |
| Medicine on the Western Front 1914-1918 | Disruption in British American society | |
| War of Independence |