Humanities – Y groups
‘What does it mean to be human?’ is the grounding question of the subject ‘Humanities’ for the Y groups at Sands School, and it is explored with an interdisciplinary approach which seeks to avoid segregating and walling off subjects to ensure that topics are examined with as much freedom as possible, allowing the teacher and students to explore ideas from anywhere and regarding anything that is of interest.
The key purpose of Humanities in the Y groups:
- Explore what it is to be human and how we relate to each other.
- To develop empathy through better knowing ourselves through a journey of self-discovery.
- To develop a critical thinker with the skills to work in an interdisciplinary manner.
- To instil intrigue in the past while remaining hopeful about the future.
The Y group curriculum is designed to allow the students as much freedom as possible in deciding their topics each half-term. At the end of each half-term, we work together as a group to vote on what our next topic will be. We try to work within six key themes (see below) and cover all the themes each year. Once the topic has been agreed on, the teacher develops a scheme of work that fits within one or multiple key themes.
Key themes:
- Media and Technology – Example topics: AI, Social Media, Mars, Fake News
- The Natural World – Example topics: Climate Change, Devon, Natural Wonders
- Prejudice and Persecution – Example topics: Holocaust, SA apartheid, Animal Rights
- Poverty – Example topics: UK vs. World Poverty, Are Billionaires a good thing?
- Conflict – Example topics: What is good and evil?, Religious conflict, WW1/2
- Power – Example topics: Democracy, Empire, Freedom, Crime and Punishment
Although the topics are multidisciplinary, we aim to provide our students with the necessary key skills to study the Humanities GCSEs in the O groups.
O Group – GCSE Options
We offer 6 Humanities qualifications at the GCSE level: Geography, History, Religious Studies, Psychology, Sociology and AQA’s Project qualifications HPQ and EPQ. Due to the small size of the groups and limits of the timetable we cannot provide all 6 subjects to each year group, therefore at the end of Y3 (year 9) each year group selects which subjects they want to take forwards as a group.
Geography
History
Religious Studies
Psychology
Sociology
AQA Project Qualifications