HUMANITIES

Department/Faculty reviews

Humanities

Business & Economics

I joined the school this year as Head of Humanities, as well as being the lead teacher for Economics and Business. We have tried to create an environment and work schemes where the two subjects draw upon each other and pupils share their skill sets. As a team, we are working at installing five key principles in Business and Economics, which underpin our vision of creating a successful culture that applies to both staff and pupils alike.

We aim to inspire all students to be:

Confident: Have self-belief.

Communicative: Communicate clearly in any situation.

Considerate: Respect others views and values.

Determined: Work hard to achieve the highest possible standards in all aspects of life.

Enthusiastic: Willing to learn from mistakes and maintain a positive outlook.

Independent: Take responsibility for themselves and their learning. This year we have moved to an embedded teaching philosophy of linking theory to practical examples, even involving parents in lessons from their business worlds. This was clearly demonstrated with our recent trip to Sandy Park, the home of the Exeter Chiefs, where Chief Executive and Chairman, Tony Rowe, gave up a day to our GCSE and A-Level Business and Economics students. He gave a fantastic insight into how real businesses work and clearly demonstrated the variety of career paths that are open to students. Perhaps the most beneficial element of the trip was a look at the impressive new hotel complex in partnership with Merriott Hotels. Tony gave an insightful presentation of the funding challenges and his willingness to take entrepreneurial risk. He has even offered for some pupils to be involved in marketing strategies for the business or further develop their own business ideas. We aim to develop this valued relationship further over the next few years in the sporting and academic avenues.

Business Studies GCSE is a consistently popular option choice since being introduced and next year will see the requirement for two

classes. Pupils have taken part in trips to local businesses such as Tor View Wines, where they can see the development path of start-ups and the external forces that have affected the business world. This will help them further develop their own business plans, created throughout the two year course.

Reflecting on these changing business dynamics, several of our Upper Sixth students have been successfully supported into business apprenticeship schemes. Sam is the standout with a position obtained with KPMG, one of the top four global accountancy firms. Hopefully, another school trip in the making!

Finally, through the introduction of Share Investor Club and participation in the BASE and Student Investor competitions, pupils from right across the school can gain an insight into the mechanics of the business world.

Mr Grey Head of Humanities

Geography

Our Geographers have had a busy time this academic year and the interactive opportunities we developed during Covid restrictions have meant there is a more immersive experience in this subject combined with the ability to get out and undertake fieldwork. The ability to utilise Google street map or satellite images has meant many a lesson can be applied to the local area or looking at coastal erosion on the South Devon coast.

In the early years the pupils have been developing map reading and topography skills in conjunction with the Outdoor Ed programme with Form 2 lapping up the ecosystems topic in the Michalemas term: all of them can now recite very happily the range of adaptations that a camel has developed in order to survive in the harsh desert environment! Lockdown allowed the teaching of tectonic hazards to be brought to life through the power of National Geographic videos and we have built on this with a possible field trip to Pompeii in years to come. More recently Form 2 have been studying Global Issues and have shifted their focus from physical to human geography by learning about the impact that human beings have on the planet and what we can do to live in a more sustainable way. This was brought into focus in classwork through the COP26 summit where pupils saw theory being put into practice through global agreements.

The Form 3 pupils have been thoroughly engaged in the Rivers element of the syllabus and after being taught the theory were taken to Dipper Mill by Mr Grey to see this in action: Oxbow lakes, erosion and even how Mr Quance now has a beach on his land, albeit slightly muddy! In the Trinity Term the pupils enjoyed a canoe trip on the Bude canal and river, looking at how humans have utilised river systems to their advantage.

In Form 4, the first year of the GCSE course has been tackled with enthusiasm. This has comprised the physical geography topics and culminated in a field trip at the end of term to look at local coastal and river landforms as well as gaining an understanding of how the fluvial and coastal processes are managed.

The Form 5 geographers have had a disrupted year in the lead up to their GCSEs and they have coped with this extremely maturely. The second year of the GCSE course focuses on human geography topics and again relating the subject matter to current world events and implications helped bring the subject to life; in fact the examiner wanted the students to discuss the effects of Covid! It was encouraging to see the proportion of pupils intending to continue their geographical studies at A-Level and I am sure they will continue to thrive under the mentorship of Miss Taylor.

There has been a vibrant and engaged Sixth Form cohort of geographers - they are not short of an opinion and have brought many a class to life! The A-Level course content is varied with topics ranging from the traditional carbon and water cycles to the more contemporary understanding of sovereignty and what makes a place. The students have been supported to complete their data collection for their independent investigations over the summer, ranging from an impact assessment of the new rail service in Okehampton to the impact of the pandemic on Bude; all promise to be interesting and a great deal of effort has been invested. The A-Level Geographers have been able to relate their studies into the global situation from the impact of global trade, pandemic response and geopolitics – and despite its challenges, it has been a dynamic year.

Mr Grey & Mr Jenkins Geography Department

History

2021-22 will doubtless provide historians of the future with a great deal of material – war in Ukraine and its associated geo-politics, the ongoing Covid situation, ‘Partygate,’ and continued controversy over the place of statues and monuments in our understanding of the past. As Victorian statesman Joseph Chamberlain said, ‘I think that you will all agree that we are living in most interesting times. I never remember myself a time in which our history was so full, in which day by day brought us new objects of interest.’ Relating the past to our present is an essential skill, not just for historians, but for all of us.

At Key Stage 3 (Forms 1-3) Mr Wilson has been busy integrating the study of history into the wider world of Humanities. Form 1 have been on a journey from the foundation myths of Rome, to Republican Roman politics. When they acted the agrarian reforms proposed by the Gracchi, from the points of view from the plebeians and the patricians the argument in the assembly was well constructed and passionately delivered. Next we delved into the Vikings, their way of life, and their gods, which intertwined with RS where they looked at Viking and Christian interchanges. Form 2 saw the trial of a new Humanities course which combined Geography with RS and History. They started in Europe where they investigated the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius, this gave a gateway into Roman life, culture, and religion. Whilst allowing them to carry out an historical investigation. They then travelled to Africa where they studied mediaeval African kingdoms, giving the opportunity to compare mediaeval British life with that of another continent. Form 3 have taken a journey through the modern world. From empire, slavery, and the East India Company, to the causes and problems with WW1. They finished the year by looking at the treaty of Versailles, which will set up our GCSE historians excellently for looking at Weimar Germany.

At GCSE level, Mr Wilson and Mr Law introduced pupils to the gory delights of the history of medicine as their breadth study, a wonderful journey through five centuries looking at the impact and interaction of technology, religion, government, war and other factors. A particular favourite has been the story of surgeon Robert Liston, who once performed an operation with a 300% fatality rate, and the 1919 Influenza pandemic which resonates so loudly with our own time.

At A-Level the Upper 6th have had the joy of my tutelage for their final year and are now busy preparing for their examinations on the vagaries of Tudor politics and the development of society, and the turmoil and violence of the Russian revolution and the rule of Josef Stalin. For the non-examined component of their A-Level they produced a range of fascinating and independently-researched coursework essays on such diverse topics as technological developments in naval warfare, the ‘Ghazi thesis’ and the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the role of the Sea-Peoples in the ‘Bronze age collapse’ in ancient Egypt. The Lower 6th have taken a journey through the revolutionary seventeenth century in Britain, looking at the road to civil war and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 which led to the establishment of many of the political liberties we take for granted today, before moving on to two modules covering the Russian revolution and rebellion and disorder in Tudor England.

Dr Fox History Department

Religious Studies

Religious studies: not just religion. In an increasingly secular world, but one still deeply divided by faith and religion, it is important for young people to learn about and understand not just the many different faiths and beliefs followed by our fellow humans, but also a range of philosophical and ethical issues which they might face every day. Whether studying Christianity, Islam, or the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the religious and philosophical teaching at Shebbear is underpinned by John Wesley’s words: “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

In Forms 1 and 2 Mr Wilson has led the way introducing a number of World religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, as well as exploring concepts that cross religions such as prayer, pilgrimage, and holy places. In Form 3 Mr Wilson and Dr Fox have introduced pupils to some more philosophical issues, asking pupils to consider all the different factors that have combined to make them the people they are, before moving on to The Big Question: is there a God? Things like suffering can often make people doubt the existence of God, but for some people suffering leads to a deeper and stronger faith, and pupils have been challenged on why this might be. Through the course of the year Form 3 have also enjoyed ethical modules on crime and punishment, and are currently looking at the treatment of religion by the media, balancing weighty and uncomfortable issues like Islamophobia in the right-wing press with lighter topics such as the portrayal of religion in a range of popular movies.

At GCSE Shebbear College is currently moving away from a compulsory ‘short-course’ GCSE Religious Studies exam to an optional full iGCSE, which the current Form 4 will be the first to sit next year, and which is proving to be a popular choice. GCSE units include in-depth studies of Christianity and Islam, coupled with ethical modules on Families and Relationships, and Peace and Conflict. Recently some members of Form 4 have created some short films on the theme of homophobia and living in a heteronormative world.

This year has also seen the welcome return of A-Level Philosophy, in which Dr Fox has led students through the ideas of Plato and Aristotle which still help shape society today, as well as more recent philosophers such as Descartes, Russell, and Kant. Pupils have been challenged to consider the backgrounds of their own beliefs, both in terms of religion and ethics, which has sparked some very lively discussions and debates on issues as varied as euthanasia, whistleblowing in business, and challenging ethical debates.

Dr Fox Religious Studies Department