History at NHP aims to foster in children a sense of wonder and awe about the past, and to make the stories of the past relevant and connected to their future. History lends itself well as a platform for the promotion of children’s creative thinking skills; rather than ‘read, remember, regurgitate’, the children will learn to question, evaluate, analyse, debate and experience the stories of our past whilst maintaining focus on the ability to write coherently and fluently.

Drama, trips, research projects, enquiries, films and artefact handling all help to stimulate children’s natural curiosity and ‘bring History to life’.

Discussion and debate are part of the questioning approach used to lead to independent discovery in the Geography department.

We aim to teach Geography in a way which will influence pupils’ actions for the rest of their lives, encourage them to be deeply observant and to develop a critical understanding of big ideas like ‘sustainable development’ and ‘interdependence’.

An enquiry-based approach to learning blends comfortably with the NHP mindset. During their time with us in the Lower and Middle School, pupils will focus on each of the main world religions in a four-step process of questioning, engagement, investigation and evaluating. Whilst fostering an ethos of tolerance, open-mindedness, empathy and curiosity, we explore themes such as commitment, family, faith, support, belonging and identity. This also gives the children the opportunity to explore their own sense of faith and spirituality and their personal understanding of God.

In the Upper School, FPE is planned alongside History and Geography and, using locations, such as India or China, as anchors, pupils explore the impact and importance of religion within the specific context and period of history.

As part of their learning, children will visit a range of different places of worship and meet visiting practitioners and priests from different religions in assemblies and workshops.