Humanities

Humanities at St Mark’s Academy involves exploring the main ideas and concepts that help us to make sense of our lives and the world we live in. It encourages an interest in and sense of awe and wonder about the world around us.

Humanities introduce us to people we have never met, places we have never visited, and ideas that may have never crossed our minds. By showing how others have lived and thought about life, the humanities help us decide what is important in our own lives and what we can do to make them better. By connecting us with other people, they point the way to answers about what is right or wrong, or what is true to our heritage and our history. Within humanities pupils learn how to think creatively and critically, to reason, and to ask important life questions.

The humanities department at St Mark’s provides students with a safe and stimulating learning environment where all learners feel they have the confidence to make a positive contribution and give their opinion on a range of moral, social and historical ideas. Lessons teach pupils to be tolerant members of the wider community through understanding how history, religion and culture link us together. Lessons provide a social awareness that helps students to appreciate their own cultural and religious identity, thus allowing them to grow in confidence.

Throughout KS3, pupils are formally assessed through a range of methods, such as individual presentations via PowerPoint, written assessments, creative performances and role-plays. This caters for the diverse needs of learners and allows teachers to assess the skills that pupils develop throughout a unit.  Within KS4, humanities provides learners with a varied curriculum offer, including Btec Travel and Tourism and GCSE courses in Religious Studies, Geography, History and Sociology. Religious education continues in the Sixth Form where pupils have the opportunity to engage with ethical theories and examine developments in Christian theology.

Within humanities,, we pride ourselves on providing a life-enriching curriculum that extends far beyond the classroom. Our curriculum is embedded with a range of ‘real life’ learning opportunities, educational visits and sessions with outside speakers and agencies.

Some student quotes:

“I find the RE lessons at St Mark’s mentally stimulating.” (A student quote from the Section 48 inspection)

““I love PSHE because we can actually contribute and have debates and discussions. I like that we have a good relationship with our teacher, that’s what makes it even more rewarding.” (Narisa, year 9)