Humanities Faculty
Miss P Briant- briantp@denbigh.net
Mrs J Campbell- campbellj@denbigh.net
Mrs L Chrisman- chrismanl@denbigh.net
Ms L Conway- conwayl@denbigh.net
Miss L Dale- dalel@denbigh.net
Ms L Donohue- donohuel@denbigh.net
Miss G Fletcher- fletcherg@denbigh.net
Mr P Gannaway- gannawayp@denbigh.net
Miss C Griffiths- griffithsc@denbigh.net
Mrs R Martin- martinr@denbigh.net
Mr P Myers- myersp@denbigh.net
Mrs L Oscroft- oscroftl@denbigh.net
Mrs S Rahman- rahmans@denbigh.net
Mrs H Rowe- roweh@denbigh.net
Mr C Scott- scottc@denbigh.net
Mrs S Shepherd- shepherds@denbigh.net
Mrs S Smith- smiths@denbigh.net
Mrs J Staincliffe- staincliffej@denbigh.net
Miss Y Upadhyay- upadhyayy@denbigh.net
Mr J Waters- watersje@denbigh.net
Mrs J Whitaker- whitakerj@denbigh.net
Faculty Introduction
The Humanities Faculty includes the subjects of Geography, History & Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (PRE). We are made up of eight History specialists and eight Geography specialists and amongst the team, we also have five Religion and Philosophy teachers. We are very proud to offer a rich and diverse curriculum across all key stages and are passionate about giving our young people the best possible start to understanding a range of world views and perspectives across all three disciplines.
The Humanities curriculum aims to build a strong community of enquirers that will encourage our students to feel inspired to learn beyond the curriculum and never be afraid to ask questions so that they become well-informed citizens of the world. All students at Denbigh are taught Geography, History and PRE in Years 7 and 8 for 1 hour per week per subject. In Year 9, one of Geography or History is studied as a 3-year GCSE subject, being examined at the end of Year 11. In Year 10, students can choose to study, as part of their wider GCSE options, GCSE Religious Studies and Geography or History. All of our subjects are offered at A-Level.
We have a very successful record of students leaving Denbigh to continue their studies in a Humanities subject at Universities across the country, including recent students studying History at both Oxford and Cambridge and Geography at Cambridge, as well as at many of the leading Russell Group Universities, for example, Theology at King’s College London.
We are an ambitious Faculty with a strong team of subject specialists. We wish to instil in our student’s hunger and thirst for knowledge of the world’s past, present and future and to have the confidence to go out into society and face challenging issues with humility. Below you will find more information about each subject.
We have designed our curriculum based on the following principles:
- Diversity – to reflect the diverse student body of the Denbigh community and teach our students to respect and value difference as well as being confident in their own perspectives.
- Inclusivity – we want all our students to feel included in the stories we share so that they can build a strong community together for a better future.
- Powerful knowledge – we want our students to be exposed to powerful knowledge so that they have an influence in society and confidence in entering discussions and debates in different spaces without feeling intimidated.
- Freethinking – we aim to strengthen their intellectual resilience and give them the tools to confidently challenge and reflect on complex problems to help them become reflective citizens.
Key Words for Year 7 History – Spring
Key Term | Definition |
Propaganda | Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. |
Democracy | A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. |
Monarchy | A form of government with a monarch at the head. |
Dictatorship | Government by a dictator. |
Parliament | (in the UK) The highest legislature, consisting of the Sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. |
Nationalism | Identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations. |
Revolution | A forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system. |
Era | A long and distinct period of history. |
Economy | The state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money. |
Trade | The action of buying and selling goods and services. |
Pacifism | The belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means. |
Consequence | A result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant. |
Significance | The quality of being worthy of attention; importance. / the meaning to be found in words or events. |
Key Words for Year 7 Geography – Spring
Key Term | Definition |
Africa | A large continent, south of Europe and between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Made up of 54 different countries. |
Climate | The prevailing (most common) weather conditions in an area over a long period of time. Mainly focusing on rainfall and temperature. |
Biome | A large, naturally occurring community of plants and animals occupying a large area (e.g. desert or rainforest). |
Tropical Rainforest | A tropical (warm and wet) woodland with an annual rainfall of at least 2,500mm, warm temperatures all year and a large variety of plants and animals. |
Canopy Layer | One of the four layers of the tropical rainforest, where trees overlap their leaves and branches, and where 60-90% of the plants and animals live. |
Adaptations | The process of change, by which a plant or animal evolves to become better suited to it’s environment (e.g. a cactus in a hot desert storing water). |
Climate Change | A change in climate patterns globally, in particular ‘global warming’. This is where Carbon Dioxide and other ‘Greenhouse Gases’ trapped in the atmosphere cause global temperatures to rise. |
Drought | A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water. |
Tropical Storms | A very intense, spiral-shaped wind system, forming over tropical (warm) oceans and bringing extreme wind speeds and heavy rain. Known as a ‘Tropical Cyclone’ in Africa. |
Natural Resources | Important raw materials (like oil or diamonds) that occur naturally and can be taken from the earth to be used to make products and money. |
Fossil Fuels | Oil, natural gas and coal are the three ‘fossil fuels’ that we burn to use the energy for our homes, businesses and transport. These are an example of natural resources that is very important to modern life. |
Famine | Extreme lack of food (sometimes caused by drought). |
Tourism | An important industry to many countries in Africa. An industry characterised by people spending time away from home for fun. Tourism is one way that countries can grow economically. |
Key Words for Year 8 History – Spring
Key Term | Definition |
Propaganda | Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. |
Democracy | A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. |
Monarchy | A form of government with a monarch at the head. |
Dictatorship | Government by a dictator. |
Parliament | (in the UK) The highest legislature, consisting of the Sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. |
Nationalism | Identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations. |
Revolution | A forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system. |
Era | A long and distinct period of history. |
Economy | The state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money. |
Trade | The action of buying and selling goods and services. |
Pacifism | The belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means. |
Consequence | A result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant. |
Significance | The quality of being worthy of attention; importance. / the meaning to be found in words or events. |
Key Words for Year 8 Geography – Spring
Key Term | Definition |
Natural Hazards | A physical event (not caused by humans directly) that could cause harm to people or property. |
Tectonic Plates | The large slabs that the Earth’s crust is broken up into. The continents/oceans are not all connected completely as one. They are broken up into these ‘plates’, which move to cause tectonic hazards. |
Volcano | A mountain or hill, with a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapour and gas are (or have been) erupted from the earth’s crust. |
Earthquake | A sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth’s crust or volcanic action. |
Tsunami | A long (and sometimes high) sea wave, caused by an earthquake or other disturbance displacing water. |
Tropical Storms | A very intense, spiral-shaped wind system, forming over tropical (warm) oceans and bringing extreme wind speeds and heavy rain. Known as a ‘Tropical Cyclone’ in Africa. |
Desertification | When land that is not a desert starts to become a desert, due to the soil quality degrading (becoming very poor). This leads to a reduction in plant and animal species in the area. |
Water scarcity | A place (e.g.a city or village) has water scarcity when there are not enough water resources to meet the requirements of the human population in that area. |
Water Management | The control and movement of water resources to reduce damage to life and property (especially to try to prevent desertification). |
Deforestation | The action of felling (chopping down) trees. This term is commonly used when describing a large area of trees (in a forest, for example) are being cleared. |
Climate Change | A change in climate patterns globally, in particular ‘global warming’. This is where Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse Gases trapped in the atmosphere cause global temperatures to rise. |
Greenhouse gases | A gas that contributes to the Greenhouse Effect by absorbing radiation (heat) from the sun. Carbon Dioxide and Methane are examples of Greenhouse Gases. |
Enhanced greenhouse effect | Our earth naturally has a ‘greenhouse effect’, where many of the gases found in our atmosphere trap enough heat for us to live. However, the enhanced greenhouse effect refers to the EXTRA trapped heat that has been caused by human activity (e.g. farming and burning fossil fuels for transport). |
Microplastics | Small traces of plastic (less than 5mm across) which can be harmful to the ocean and aquatic life. Microplastics can be found in all manner of products (including toothpaste and shampoo!). |
Year 7 – History, Geography and PRE
History | Geography | PRE | |
---|---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | What is history? | Introduction to Geography | Introduction to Philosophy (The Greeks) |
Autumn 2nd half term | Ancient History | What is our local environment? | God and Judaism |
Spring 1st half term | Revolution | African Study (Physical) | Old and New Testament |
Spring 2nd half term | Democracy | African Study (Physical) | Church History and Jesus |
Summer 1st half term | Empires and migration | Geographical processes | Muhammad (PBUH) and early Islam |
Summer 2nd half term | Impact of migration | Impact on the physical environment | Religious influences on Art, Music and Science |
Year 8 – History, Geography and PRE
History | Geography | PRE | |
---|---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | Protest | Does place matter? | God in Hinduism |
Autumn 2nd half term | Protest | Globalisation and borders | Buddhism |
Spring 1st half term | Conflict | Hazards – earthquakes | Introduction to Ethics |
Spring 2nd half term | Conflict | Volcanoes | Philosophy: Life after Death |
Summer 1st half term | Does Propaganda control us? | Development in different societies | Introduction to Sikhism |
Summer 2nd half term | Does Propaganda control us? | Development – solutions | Environmental Ethics |
Year 9 – History GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Conflict & Tension Peacemaking to the collapse of the League |
Autumn 2nd half term | Conflict & Tension Origins and outbreak of 2nd WW |
Spring 1st half term | Germany 1890-1945 Growth of democracy |
Spring 2nd half term | Germany 1890-1945 Germany & the depression |
Summer 1st half term | Germany 1890-1945 Germany under the Nazis |
Summer 2nd half term | Germany 1890-1945 Revision activities on Conflict & Tension Germany – Complete Germany |
Year 10 – History GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Health and the People Unit 1 |
Autumn 2nd half term | Health and the People Unit 2 |
Spring 1st half term | Health and the People Unit 3 |
Spring 2nd half term | Health and the People Unit 4 |
Summer 1st half term | Elizabethan England Unit 1 |
Summer 2nd half term | Elizabethan England Unit 2 |
Year 11 – History GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Elizabethan England Unit 3 |
Autumn 2nd half term | Elizabethan England Unit 4 Conflict and tension |
Spring 1st half term | Conflict and tension |
Spring 2nd half term | Conflict and tension GCSE revision on Germany |
Summer 1st half term | GCSE revision on Health and the People Elizabethan England |
Summer 2nd half term | Revision – all topics |
Year 12 – History A Level
Teacher A | Teacher B | |
---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | Russia – Intro, lifestyle in 1917, social structure, Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev | French Wars, Crimea |
Autumn 2nd half term | Russia- NEP, Collectivisation, War Communism, 5 year plans | Boer War, WW1 |
Spring 1st half term | Russia – Reform of agriculture, Reform of industry, Media/Propaganda, Personality cults | Breadth 1 – organising the military |
Spring 2nd half term | Russia – secret police, Andropov, Suppression of dissidents, culture, the welfare state | Breadth 2 – role of the people |
Summer 1st half term | Russia – Downfall of the USSR, Revision | Revision of the warfare unit |
Summer 2nd half term | Introduction to Coursework – Cold War | Introduction to Coursework – Cold War |
Year 13 – History A Level
Group 1 | Group 2 | |
---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | China | Coursework |
Autumn 2nd half term | China | Coursework |
Spring 1st half term | China | Coursework / revision for Russia and Mao (to include differences between AS and A2) |
Spring 2nd half term | China | Revision for Russia and Mao |
Summer 1st half term | Revision | Revision for Russia and Mao |
Summer 2nd half term | N/A | N/A |
Year 9 – Geography GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Geographical skills Physical geography of the UK |
Autumn 2nd half term | Rivers – processes, landforms, management of flooding |
Spring 1st half term | Rivers to complete Urban – urbanisation, megacities Opportunities & challenges of living in a NEE megacity |
Spring 2nd half term | Urban – opportunities & challenges of living in a HIC city Regeneration and sustainable living |
Summer 1st half term | Ecosystems – structure and distribution Tropical Rainforests |
Summer 2nd half term | Hot Desert ecosystems Revision and exams |
Year 10 – Geography GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Management of a named stretch of UK coastline |
Autumn 2nd half term | Economic World Tourism as a strategy Case Study – Nigeria, a NEE |
Spring 1st half term | Economic futures in the UK The N-S divide Infrastructure improvements Sustainable strengths in industry |
Spring 2nd half term | Definition of hazards Tectonic hazards Nepal & Italy earthquakes Atmosphere circulation model |
Summer 1st half term | Climatic hazards Weather hazards in UK Cause of climate change Managing climate change |
Summer 2nd half term | Revision of Y10 exams Fieldwork skills and projects |
Year 11 – Geography GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Climate Hazards UK weather hazards Causes of Climate Change Managing climate change Resource Management: OVERVIEW – global issues with energy, water and food resources |
Autumn 2nd half term | Understanding the issues affecting the UK – energy, food & water resources Understanding of managing the UK’s energy resources Geographical skills Revision for PPEs |
Spring 1st half term | Issues Evaluation (P3 practice) |
Spring 2nd half term | Issues Evaluation (P3 practice) |
Summer 1st half term | Revision |
Summer 2nd half term | TBC |
Year 12 – Geography A Level
Human | Physical | |
---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | Globalisation Political and economic decision making Degree of globalisation differs TNCs and their role Switch on – switch off | Coastal Landscapes and change |
Autumn 2nd half term | Winners and losers in globalisation De-industrialisation in HIC Migration Cultural diffusion and cultural erosion Widening inequality as a result of globalisation Social, political and environmental tensions Ethical and environmental concerns about consumer societies | Coastal Landscapes and change |
Spring 1st half term | Regenerating places Classification of economies Differences in employment and economic activity Functions and characteristics change over time Connections | The Water Cycle and water insecurities |
Spring 2nd half term | Peoples’ perceptions of an area Need to regenerate Policies for regeneration Measuring success of regeneration in both rural and urban areas | The Water Cycle and water insecurities |
Summer 1st half term | Revision | The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security |
Summer 2nd half term | Start Year 2 topics Superpower geography | The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security |
Year 13 – Geography A Level
Human | Physical | |
---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | Tectonics | The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity |
Autumn 2nd half term | Tectonics | The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity |
Spring 1st half term | The carbon cycle | Coursework |
Spring 2nd half term | The carbon cycle | Coursework |
Summer 1st half term | Revision | Revision |
Summer 2nd half term | Exams | Exams |
Year 9 – Philosophy, Religion & Ethics GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Christian beliefs and teachings |
Autumn 2nd half term | Christian beliefs and teachings |
Spring 1st half term | Islamic beliefs and teachings |
Spring 2nd half term | Islamic beliefs and teachings |
Summer 1st half term | Christian practices |
Summer 2nd half term | Christian practices |
Year 10 – Philosophy, Religion & Ethics GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Islamic practices |
Autumn 2nd half term | Philosophy: Existence of God |
Spring 1st half term | Philosophy: Existence of God |
Spring 2nd half term | Ethics: Relationships and families |
Summer 1st half term | Ethics: Relationships and families |
Summer 2nd half term | Ethics: Religion Peace and Conflict |
Year 11 – Philosophy, Religion & Ethics GCSE
Autumn 1st half term | Ethics: Religion Peace and Conflict |
Autumn 2nd half term | Philosophy: Dialogue |
Spring 1st half term | Philosophy: Dialogue |
Spring 2nd half term | Revision |
Summer 1st half term | Revision |
Summer 2nd half term | Exams |
Year 12 – Philosophy, Religion & Ethics A Level
Philosophy | Ethics | |
---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | Ancient Philosophical Influences – Plato and Aristotle Soul, Mind and Body | Normative Ethical Theories: • Natural Law • Situation ethics |
Autumn 2nd half term | Teleological Argument Cosmological Argument Ontological Argument | Kantian Ethics Utilitarianism |
Spring 1st half term | Prophecy and Revelation God and philosophy | Application of ethical theories: • Euthanasia • Business ethics |
Spring 2nd half term | Religious Experience Evil and suffering | Tradition The Shariah |
Summer 1st half term | Human Destiny Revision | Sufism Revision |
Summer 2nd half term | Attributes of God | Conscience |
Year 13 – Philosophy, Religion & Ethics A Level
Group 1 | Group 2 | |
---|---|---|
Autumn 1st half term | Religious Language: Twentieth century philosophical perspectives | Meta-ethics (Ethical language and thought) |
Autumn 2nd half term | Religious Language: Negative, Analogical or Symbolic Science and Islamic Philosophy | Sexual ethics Gender equality |
Spring 1st half term | Justice and Liberation | Tolerance |
Spring 2nd half term | Islam and the State | Islam and Europe |
Summer 1st half term | Revision | Revision |
Summer 2nd half term | Exams | Exams |
Extra Curricular
As a Faculty we offer an extraordinary extra-curricular programme that takes our students beyond the curriculum. We offer many clubs and trips which give our students rich cultural experiences outside of the classroom. Our extra-curricular activities include the Magistrates Court Competition, the Bar Mock Trial Competition, the Family Court Competition, Eco schools Satellite Group, Youth SACRE Satellite Group, the Holocaust Memorial Ambassadors group, Black History club, History Club and Philosophy club.
We also offer many trips. The History Team takes all Year 7 students to Warwick Castle and Year 11 students to different historical places such as, The Globe theatre, Hardwick Hall and National Maritime Museum. There have also been visits to the Battlefields in France and the Imperial War Museum. The Geography Team offer fieldwork days and in the past students have visited Bournemouth, Birmingham and conducted local studies here in Milton Keynes. Our GCSE students have the opportunity to attend residential trips to Berlin (History Y10) and Barcelona (Geography Y10). Our GSCE Philosophy students visit the British Library to take part in the sacred texts workshop, the British Museum to explore the galleries of European History, Islamic civilization and Ancient Indian civilization. They will also visit St. Paul’s Cathedral and Regent’s Park Mosque and get the opportunity to attend Philosophy conferences in Cambridge or Oxford.
In the Sixth Form, Geography students go to Birmingham and St Margaret’s Bay for fieldwork opportunities in Year 12. Year 13 students have a residential trip to the Lake District to complete their coursework. Philosophy and Ethics students will attend academy conferences in Oxford and Cambridge every year to listen to renown scholars and get the opportunity to meet and engage in debates with students from some of our most prestigious private schools in the country.