EPD Social Studies Curriculum
Geography
Geography inspires in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Children are equipped with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As children progress, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Aims
At GSIS, the EPD curriculum for Integrated Studies (Geography) aims for children to:
- develop contextual knowledge of the location of locally and globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
- understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
- become competent in the geographical skills needed to: collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
- interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, representation of data and writing.
History
The study of History enables children to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of the past. It inspires their curiosity to know more about previous civilisations, societies, and generations. Children are equipped to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, interpret arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps children to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Aims
At GSIS, the EPD curriculum for Integrated Studies (History) aims for children to:
- know and understand the history of places, people and events as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped the present time and how a context relevant country has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
- know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of humankind
- gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’ and ‘civilisation’
- understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
- understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
- gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
