Travel and Tourism
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Curriculum Intent
The Humanities Faculty comprises four core subjects: History, Geography, Citizenship and Religious Studies, alongside Vocational Travel and Tourism at Key Stage 4. Together, these subjects aim to cultivate informed, reflective global citizens with a strong understanding of the interconnectedness of past, present, and future events, and the world around them.
Our Humanities curriculum is designed to inspire curiosity and engage students with the complexity of the world. By studying the diverse topics within, History, Geography, Religious Education, and Citizenship, pupils gain an appreciation of the different cultures, values, and perspectives that shape our societies. The curriculum encourages students to explore their own identities, understand the challenges of their time, and critically assess the changes that have influenced human behaviour and societal development.
As pupils progress through the curriculum, they will deepen their understanding of the complex interactions between physical and human processes on Earth, exploring how these processes have shaped, and have been shaped by historical events and developments over time. Our curriculum is rich with opportunities to promote Spiritual, Moral, Social, and Cultural (SMSC) development, fostering empathy, tolerance, and respect for diversity, while encouraging environmental stewardship.
The aims of the Humanities curriculum are to enable students to:
- Think critically: Develop the skills to think, write, communicate, and read as experts in the fields of History, Geography, Citizenship , and Religious Studies.
- Broaden their understanding: Engage with a broad range of geographical, historical, and religious topics that expand students' knowledge of human behaviour, societal influences, and global issues.
- Develop a sense of identity and citizenship: Reflect on their roles as citizens of the UK and the wider world, embracing core British values and nurturing a sense of belonging and responsibility.
- Make informed connections: Grasp the key concepts of each discipline and apply them to draw connections, analyse trends, and pose relevant questions.
- Grow cultural capital: Participate in experiences both within and beyond the classroom that enhance their cultural awareness and understanding of the world.
- Prepare for future success: Equip students with transferable skills, independent study habits, and the resilience necessary for adult life, further education, and employment.
Our curriculum offers a holistic approach, preparing students not only for academic success but also for lifelong learning, active citizenship, and responsible global engagement.
Travel and Tourism:
- Study key industry concepts: Explore the travel and tourism industry’s structure, key processes, and the factors that influence its appeal, in line with the BTEC specification’s focus on the components of the sector.
- Develop essential vocational skills: Enhance skills in research, evaluation, and communication through the completion of assignments that reflect real-world scenarios, tailored to specific customer types and tourism products.
- Understand travel and tourism organizations: Investigate the role of travel and tourism organizations, including how they operate and meet the needs of different customer groups, as outlined in the BTEC learning objectives.
- Address global challenges: Examine the complexities of worldwide travel, considering the impact of government policies, climate change, and ethical issues, in alignment with the BTEC focus on understanding challenges and opportunities in the global travel market.
What your child will learn in Travel and Tourism
Travel & Tourism SMSC Statement
SMSC and British Values play an essential part of the Travel and Tourism Curriculum at Hathershaw College. Throughout their study, students develop a strong understanding of the needs and wants of a variety of visitor types with different ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Pupils are encouraged to develop well informed and open-minded attitudes to cultural diversity and an appreciation of the culture of others, and therefore are encouraged to use a range of resources, for example booklets, leaflets and the internet from a variety of authors from a range of backgrounds.
As part of the Travel and Tourism curriculum students are encouraged to respect the values and beliefs of others. One of the fundamental principles of the subject is the understanding of customer type. Students have a clear understanding of each customer’s needs from those of a Muslim family to those of a single parent family. As a result students are able to challenge stereotypical views and appreciate, positively, differences in others. Furthermore this gives pupils opportunities to explore how beliefs can have an impact on life. To put this into practice in year 10 Students choose destinations and activities for the visitor to complete whilst taking into consideration religious, cultural and social features of each group. Furthermore, students are able to develop their understanding of other cultures, religions and values. For example, students study the key features of religious sites as places of interest. As a result, students explore the expectations of visits to places of religious or cultural importance. For example, when making customer briefs pupils will include details relating to the specific requirements of the place of worship or cultural importance, for example the addition of scarfs and covers up when visiting places such as Vatican City.
Likewise, the understanding of the rule of law in different places is promoted and students are able to make parallels to the rule of law in the UK. It is important for students to recognise how customers could be affected by changes to the law when travelling around the world. Consequently students require a good understanding of the key features of law in places such as France and the recent ban on Muslim face coverings and factors such as the US travel ban. Students can also consider how the rule of law has affected the travel industry, particularly in security on flights.
Furthermore, Travel and Tourism enables moral development by exploring and responding to issues of right and wrong. Students are encouraged to consider how the aims of a business may conflict with what is best for their staff. Pupils will critically examine how businesses can balance this in order to suit the aims of the business and the satisfaction of the staff. Students will also consider the importance of customer service to travel and tourism organisations and understand the impacts of getting customer service right or, in some cases, wrong. As a result of this students are able to develop informed and well-reasoned decisions, recognising that others have different beliefs and attitude. For the externally examined unit student’s consider the impact that tourism has on the environment and investigate how we can reduce the negative impacts, taking a moral outlook on our earth.
As part of the Travel and Tourism curriculum students are encouraged to reflect on the influences that have shaped their own understanding of the travel and tourism sector. All of the units allow students to explore their own experiences gained from holidays, day trips and school trips. By studying real people, and real places students are constantly making links and able to develop spiritually.