Communication Learning Journey:
Communication is the foundation of all human relationships and affects all aspects of our lives. It spreads knowledge and information – authors to their readers, teacher to their students, companies to their customers, friend to friend – across cultures, countries and generations. Face to face, letters, emails, phone calls, texting, media, social media… with more means of communication than ever, there are now even more ways to be misunderstood than ever. Having good communication skills involves being aware of both sender and receiver. Children need to learn how to communicate clearly and positively, using verbal and non-verbal skills to get their ideas and feelings across, to receive other people’s messages and to resolve conflict.
By the end of the Navigators Phase (Year 6), pupils will be able to communicate in ways that build and maintain positive relationships through focused listening, confident speaking, sharing ideas and explaining clearly. They will know how communication has developed through time and the chronology of technology, now our current main means of communicating. They will also learn how to communicate in an assertive way, avoiding conflict through mutual respect.
Conflict Learning Journey:
Poverty and political, social, and economic inequalities between groups predispose them to conflict. Eight out of 10 of the world’s poorest countries are suffering, or have recently suffered, from large scale violent conflict. Wars in developing countries have heavy human, economic, and social costs and are a major cause of poverty and underdevelopment. This creates a cycle of conflict that needs to be broken. Understanding world history would be impossible without understanding the conflicts that have shaped it. Children need to learn how to handle disagreements constructively and resolve their differences without yelling and screaming, ignoring and sulking, whining and moaning or resorting to violence. Conflict can be seen as an opportunity for learning about and understanding our differences. We can all live harmoniously, despite conflicts, as long as we know how to responsibly manage these struggles.
By the end of the Navigators Phase (Year 6), pupils will be able to define conflict and explain the key reasons as to why conflict exists. They will also be able to give specific examples of conflict, both past and present, on a local, national and global scale. On a personal level, they will learn how to handle disagreements constructively and resolve their differences peaceably.
Culture Learning Journey:
Cultures evolve continuously, as people interact with one another, producing an intermingling of values, and material ways of life. Contact between societies remains the most important factor influencing culture and, over time, this contact has greatly increased, largely due to development in the areas of transport and technology. Our communities are becoming increasingly diverse, creating a fusion of people of many religions, languages, economic and cultural groups. An understanding and appreciation of other cultures and establishing relationships with people from cultures is vital in building and maintaining successful communities. An appreciation of cultural diversity goes hand-in-hand with a just and equitable society and helps to overcome and prevent racial and ethnic divisions. Children need to learn how culture aspects perception, influences behaviour and shapes personalities. As they explore different cultures, it’s also important to remember how much we have in common. People see the world very differently, but we are all human beings. We all love, want to learn, have hopes, dreams and fears. At the same time, we can’t pretend our cultures and differences don’t matter, and we can’t pretend that discrimination doesn’t exist.
By the end of the Navigators Phase (Year 6), pupils will be able to define and identify the characteristic features of culture and understand why cultural diversity is important. They will be able to talk about the features of a range of different cultures from around the world, explaining some of their similarities and differences. They will also learn how culture affects perception and influences behaviour.
Conservation Learning Journey:
The practice of caring for Earth’s natural resources (including air, water, soil, minerals, fuels, plants and animals) is vital so that all living things can benefit from them, both now and in the future. We often waste natural resources – air and water are polluted; animals are overhunted; forests are cleared, exposing land to weather damage; fertile soil is exhausted and eroded because of poor farming practices.
Sustainable development is a way of thinking about and organising how we live on Earth. People should be able to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy quality of life without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Our current mode and rate of development Is not sustainable. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our generation, with scientists predicting rising temperatures that will result in flooding, displacement and land loss.
The population of human beings has grown enormously in the past two centuries and billions of people use up resources quickly. The continuation of life as we know it depends on the careful conservation of natural resources. This often conflicts with other needs e.g. livelihoods, housing, the expansion of hospitals and businesses. The benefits of development need to be weighed against the harm to plants and animals, the depletion of resources needed in the future and the damage to resources we use today.
It’s normal to feel powerless when faced with the enormity of world conservation issues, but children need to know that small actions can make a big difference.
By the end of the Navigators Phase (Year 6), pupils will be able to define conservation, outline key areas e.g. biodiversity and understand why it is such an important world issue. They will learn how we can live more sustainably, understanding the importance of natural resources and renewable energy. On a personal level, they will learn how they can make a difference by reducing their carbon footprint and behaving in a more environmentally responsible way.
