Find out more about applying for a place at Kingswinford Academy here
Humanities - Geography, History and religious studies
Geography
Geography is about studying our world. Geography aims to increase students’ understanding about how the world we live in works, the challenges and opportunities that our planet presents us with and how we can best manage those challenges and opportunities.
Geography involves studying a broad range of topics and uses a broad range of skills. Students learn how to understand the links between disciplines, with the ultimate aim of being able to use those links to develop new, world-changing innovations so we can build a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable future.
Key Stage 3
Year 7
- An overview of geographical skills and places
- Ecosystems – how they work and how they are threatened
- Geology and how it influences coastal environments.
Year 8
- Tectonic hazards – there causes, impact and how we can cope with them
- Weather and climate – how these systems work and the impact they have
- Urbanisation and population – how and why where people live on the planet is changing and the impact that this is having.
Year 9
This year is part of a bridging curriculum where we introduce GCSE skills and themes.
- Resource challenges - focusing on the impact our use of finite and fragile resources has. Africa – focusing on the rapid development and change in Nigeria
- Living World – learning about ecosystem processes and rainforests.
Key Stage 4
GCSE Geography (AQA)
Paper 1: Physical Environment
35% of GCSE, 1 hour 30 minute exam. The three themes covered are:
- The challenge of natural hazards
- The living world
- Physical landscapes of the UK.
Paper 2: Human Environment
35% of GCSE, 1 hour 30 minute exam. The three themes covered are:
- Urban issues and challenges
- The changing economic world
- The challenge of resource management.
Paper 3: Geographical Applications
30% of GCSE, 1 hour 30 minute exam. The two sections to this exam are:
- Issue evaluation (based on a real world issue that is based on material released before the exam.
- Fieldwork (questions based on geographical enquiries the students have carried out).
History
The History department aims to increase students’ cultural capital through a stimulating curriculum igniting a passion and thirst for learning. We aim to generate curiosity of the past in which our learners become critical and reflective thinkers, who can employ their learned skills in historical enquiry.
Our department aims to develop students who can interpret the way the past has been explained and construct their own interpretations, developing independent thinking. Our history curriculum helps students comprehend the diversity of human experience in Britain and the wider world throughout different ages, and aids understanding of how history has shaped the world we live in today.
Key Stage 3
Year 7
- What is History (focus on Dudley Castle)
- Kings to Democracy
- The British Empire.
Year 8
- The Religious Rollercoaster
- The Industrial Revolution
- Medicine Through Time.
Year 9
- Heroes and Villains of History
- WWI
- WWII.
Key Stage 4
GCSE History (AQA)
Paper 1: 50% of GCSE, 1 hour 45 minute exam
- Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship
- Conflict and Tension: The Interwar Years, 1918-1939.
Paper2: 50% of GCSE, 1hour 45 minute exam
- Britain: Health and the People: c.1000 to the Present Day
- Elizabethan England, c.1568-1603.
Religious Education
Religious Education seeks to challenge all students to explore different cultures and to discuss the key global issues that confront humanity in the 21st Century.
We value the personal, moral, social and spiritual development of each student, encouraging respect for self and others including the core values of truth, kindness, integrity and compassion.
Students are made aware of both the traditional history of different faiths, as well as the relevance of religious teachings on contemporary ethical issues. Religious Education is delivered through a mix of formal lessons, PSHE lessons delivered through form times, via assemblies and guest speakers, and through collapsed curriculum days.
Key Stage 3
Students have one 50 minute lesson per week of Religious Education in Years 7, 8 and 9. Students are taught in line with the Dudley Agreed Syllabus, with a focus on religion in Years 8 and 9 and a focus on ethics in Year 9.
Year 7
- Introduction to religion
- Belief in practice
- Philosophy of religion.
Year 8
- Creation, preservation and death
- Religious expression
- Religious, social justice and equality.
Year 9
- Human rights and social injustice
- Religion and life
- Religion, conflict and crime.
Key Stage 4
Students who choose GCSE Religious Studies take the full course AQA syllabus A. The course is divided into two sections, with both being equally weighted at 50%.
The first element is the study of beliefs and practices of Christianity and Islam. The second element is the study of four philosophical and ethical themes: relationships and families, religion and life, religion, crime and punishment, religion, human rights and social justice.
GCSE Religious Studies A (AQA)
Paper 1: 50% of GCSE, 1 hour 45 minute exam.
- Christianity beliefs and teachings
- Christianity practices
- Islam Beliefs and teachings
- Islam practices.
Paper 2: 50% of GCSE, 1hour 45 minute exam.
- Relationships and families
- Religion and life
- Religion, crime and punishment
- Religion, human rights and social justice.
The Academy curriculum is designed to incorporate the Agreed Syllabus for Dudley SACRE (2013) and will be revised to accommodate the updated agreed syllabus on its publication.