Humanities

At Dorchester Middle School we teach humanities in order to give children:

• A lifelong passion for learning in history, geography and theology.
• Greater skills and knowledge so they can become more proficient in humanities.
• The preparation for upper school.
• Independence in learning.
• The skills to collaborate and work with others.

Teaching three lessons a week and taking one of the three disciplines for approximately half a term at a time (please see the overview) enables:

• Teachers to know the children, building on a relational approach so children can progress further as their teacher knows them more than if they were seen just once a week.
• Deep learning – children can focus on one matter at a time, leading to continuity of learning and the time to develop real interest and passion.
• Less gaps – If children only have history once a week they could be absent and miss several lessons. The approach we take minimises this possibility.

Across humanities at DMS we teach the children the skills of history, theology and geography discreetly within each subject from year 5 to year 8 (please see the progress maps). This is supplemented by taking advantages of the crossovers between the three subjects, so skills they will learn in history can be transferred to geography and theology too:

My team and I greatly enjoy teaching the children these fascinating subjects and welcome your constructive feedback and interest in our work.

Thank you,

Mr Greetham

Humanities Faculty Lead

Humanities Overview

Humanities Curriculum Overview