History

The study of history helps pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It inspires pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils 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

The history curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain 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 mankind
Gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
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.

At Key Stage 3, students extend and deepen their chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, so that it provides a well-informed context for wider learning. Pupils identify significant events, make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends within periods and over long arcs of time. They are taught to use historical terms and concepts in increasingly sophisticated ways. They pursue historically valid enquiries and create relevant, structured and evidentially supported accounts in response. They learn to understand how different types of historical sources are used rigorously to make historical claims and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.

At Key Stage 4, students learn more about the history of Britain and that of the wider world. The study of history at GCSE inspires students to deepen their understanding of the people, periods and events studied and enable them to think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, make informed decisions and develop perspective and judgement. This, in turn, prepares them for a role as informed, thoughtful and active citizens. The discipline of history and a knowledge and understanding of the past also helps them to understand their own identity and significant aspects of the world in which they live, and provides them with the basis for further wider learning and study

HISTORY CURRICULUM INFORMATION FOR YEARS 7-11

Year	Term	Units of Work	Assessments
7	Autumn	The Norman Conquest / Castles and Local Study	GCSE style exam on Normans & Castles
	Spring	Britain: Health and the Nation / The Reformation and Counter-Reformation	GCSE style exam on Normans, Castles & Britain: Health and the Nation
	Summer	The English Civil War / The Industrial Revolution	GCSE style exam paper covering all topics in Y7.
8	Autumn	The Transatlantic Slave Trade / World War One	GCSE style exam on Slave Trade GCSE style exam on Slave Trade & World War One
	Spring	Inter-war Years / World War Two	GCSE style exam on Slavery, WWI, Inter-war years &WWII
	Summer	The Holocaust / Impact of WWII – Britain and USA	GCSE style exam paper covering all topics in Y8
9	Autumn	Weimar Germany	Mini GCSE exam
	Spring	Weimar and Nazi Germany	Mini GCSE exam
	Summer	Crime and Punishment	Exam Paper – full section of exam paper on Weimar and Nazi Germany Mini GCSE exam on Crime and Punishment
10	Autumn	Crime and Punishment / White Chapel	Mini GCSE exam GCSE exam on Weimar Germany and Crime and Punishment
	Spring	Whitechapel / The American West	Mini GCSE exam
	Summer	The American West	Exam paper – full section of exam paper on Elizabeth
11	Autumn	Elizabeth I	Mock Exams
	Spring	REVISION	Mock Exams

GCSE COURSE INFORMATION

Qualification & Board	GCSE History - Edexcel
Course Content (for A level, how this follows on from GCSE)	Paper 1: Thematic study and historic environment Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000–present and Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: crime, policing and the inner city. Paper 2: Period study and British depth study Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88. And The American West, c1835–c1895 Paper 3: Modern depth study Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39
Potential Career paths	History is a highly respected subject in further education, not only because of the knowledge you learn, but more importantly the skills you develop and apply throughout the course e.g. Critical thinking, making a judgement, collaboration and independent working skills as well as the ability to understand and respect conflicting viewpoints. You will use and develop these skills in a variety of ways including independent and group research, debates and analysis of interpretations and historical sources. All these are important and transferable skills that can be utilised in various careers such as; Secondary school teacher, Heritage manager, Museum education officer, Archaeologist, Archivist, Solicitor, Civil Service, Media, Politics, Law, Business and Finance, Editor, Research and news broadcasting, Journalist
Assessments (inc. field work / assessed practicals)	Paper 1: Thematic study and historic environment Written examination: 1 hour and 15 minutes 30%* of the qualification 52 marks (16 for the historic environment, 36 for the thematic study) Paper 2: Period study and British depth study Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes 40%* of the qualification 64 marks (32 for the period study and 32 for the British depth study) Paper 3: Modern depth study Written examination: 1 hour and 20 minutes 30% of the qualification 52 marks Throughout teaching of GCSE; Regular exam questions to be completed throughout the course (in class and homework). End of topic exams (section of paper) completed at end of each topic. Regular mini assessments practicing all exam question types for section of GCSE paper.
Core or Option	OPTION
No Option Choices (GCSE only)
No. GCSE / A Level equivalent	1 GCSE