Teachers
- Jodie Leahy, Director of Learning
- Jake Lambert
- Laurence Marshall
- Richard Miller
History in Key Stage 3
Curriculum Intent: Our intention is that students should develop a knowledge of how power within their society has changed. We intend to focus on the impact of specific turning points in history to help students understand and recognise their place in the wider sweep of humanity.
Year 7
| Term 1 Chronology | What is history? How do historians find out about the past? What is an interpretation? How can we write like historians? | Listen to History podcasts on iTunes or Spotify: History Hit Read a History magazine such as: • All about History • BBC History Magazine • BBC World Histories Magazine Visit History websites such as: https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ |
| Term 2 Did the Normans bring a truck load of trouble to England? | What did it mean to be English by 1066? Why was the throne up for grabs in 1066? Why did William win the Battle of Hastings? How did the Normans assert their authority over England? How did the Normans reshape English society? Were Norman castles fortresses or status symbols? How useful is the Anglo-Saxon chronicle as evidence about Norman rule? How accurate is Simon Schama about the Norman Conquest? | Podcasts: The Norman Conquest: https://www.historyextra.com/period/norman/the-norman-conquest-2/ Everything you ever wanted to know about the Normans, but were afraid to ask: https://www.historyextra.com/period/norman/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-normans-guide-marc-morris-podcast/ Visit Battle Abbey: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/1066-battle-of-hastings-abbey-and-battlefield/ |
| Term 3 The Changing Power of Medieval Monarchs | Was William the Conqueror a hero or a villain? Who were the worst Medieval monarchs? What was it like to be queen in Medieval England? What was Henry II like? What happened between Henry II and Thomas Becket? What was the Magna Carta? Was King John a weak king? How did the people gain more power in the thirteenth century? What can we learn about the power of the people from the Peasant’s Revolt? How did the power of the monarchy change over time? | Podcasts: Everything you ever wanted to know about medieval queens, but were afraid to ask: https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/everything-you-wanted-to-know-medieval-queens-podcast/ Read about Medieval Monarchs https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/medieval-kings-england-you-should-know-about-richard-iii-henry-v-lionheart-robin-hood/ Watch an overview of Medieval Monarchy Read about Empress Matilda https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-england/medieval-women/ Henry II Visit Canterbury Cathedral https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/visit/pilgrimage/ King John https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIXVDvFfUb4 The Magna Carta https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zqgqtfr/revision/1 |
| Term 4 Medieval Church – Progress or Stagnation? | What was the church in the medieval period? Why was the church so important in medieval life? What did people believe about Hell? How did people get to heaven? How did the church control people? Who was in control of the church? What caused the church to lose power? | A Medieval Church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdrACuW77Vw Article about the medieval church: Medieval lives – The Medieval Church – History Learning Site Religion in the middle ages: Religion in the Middle Ages – Religion through time in the UK – KS3 History Revision – BBC Bitesize |
| Term 5 How did the English Church Change in the Sixteenth Century? | What was the church like in Medieval England? Who were the Protestants? Why did Henry VIII break with the Church in Rome? What were the consequences of Henry’s break with Rome? What was Edward’s Church like? Did Mary deserve her reputation? Did Elizabeth find a “Middle Way”? | Podcasts Everything you ever wanted to know about the English Reformation, but were afraid to ask: https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-english-reformation-diarmaid-macculloch-podcast/ The Reformation: https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/the-reformation/ Black Tudors: https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/black-tudors/ Visit Hever Castle Visit Hampton Court Palace: https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/#gs.llapfw Read Watch Henry VIII Watch Edward VI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyDHUkcN2o Watch Mary I Watch Elizabeth I |
| Term 6 How Far Did the Silk Roads shape our world? | What can we learn from a map about how the world has changed in 2000 years? Who travelled on the Silk Roads in 1345? Why were some goods more important than others on the Silk Roads? What factors influenced the spread of religion across the Silk Roads? Should Genghis Khan be remembered as the master of the Silk Roads? How do we know about the Silk Roads today? | Reading: ‘The Silk Roads: a new history of the world’ by Peter Frankopan (also the illustrated version – ask Mr Lambert to borrow it) Academic reading folder: (see Firefly) Videos: TED animated video explaining the Silk Roads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn3e37VWc0k John Green’s Crash Course video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfe-eNq-Qyg Peter Frankopan discusses The Silk Roads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAZZoMWx9nw Old school, but super, documentary following the ancient Silk Roads: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLILRQ_uVCaoOtZ6Q6egVvUyEMhbN7OG9y Podcasts: Peter Frankopan on global history in 2020 https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/peter-frankopan-silk-roads-global-history-podcast/ A History of the World in 100 Objects (especially the ‘Silk Road and Beyond’ section: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/ |
Year 8
| Term 1 What was the Spanish Empire? | What makes the Iberian Peninsula special? How big was the Spanish Empire? Who were Ferdinand and Isabella and why were they important to the Spanish Empire? How did Columbus start the Spanish Empire? How did Cortes conquer the Aztecs? How did the Inca empire collapse? Why did the Spanish empire decline? | The Aztecs: In our time: BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time, The Aztecs The Animated History of Spain: The Animated History of Spain – YouTube The Reconquista: Reconquista – The Full History – YouTube Christopher Columbus The Great Explorers – Ep4of6 – Christopher Columbus – YouTube |
| Term 2 Did the Killing of the King Change Anything? | What was Charles I like? Why did Charles and Parliament go to war? What happened at the Palace of Westminster? How did people react to the execution? Was the world turned upside down? Was Cromwell a hero or villain? Was Charles II just a “Merry Monarch”? Why was there no King James III? Did the Bill of Rights give people more rights? | Podcasts: Everything you ever wanted to know about the Civil War, but were afraid to ask: https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-civil-war-england-britain-charles-i-cromwell-battles-podcast/ Read about the execution of Charles I https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/stuart-england/the-trial-and-execution-of-charles-i/ Watch about Charles I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FjfauwXoJ4&t=4s Read about Charles II Watch about Charles II Watch about the Glorious Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mypTm0VRF4g |
| Term 3 Were 18th Century revolutions caused by enlightenment ideas? | What was the Enlightenment? Who was affected by Enlightenment ideas? Why did war break out between Britain and its colonies? Does the Declaration of Independence prove that the Revolutionary War was Enlightened? What was wrong in the Ancient Regime? Why have historians disagreed about the causes of the French Revolution? Does Robespierre deserve the title ‘the Butcher of the Revolution’? When was the French Revolution most revolutionary? | Further Reading: Videos: The Enlightenment: Crash Course European History #18 – YouTube Enlightenment Thinkers – YouTube The French Revolution: Crash Course European History #21 – YouTube The Enlightenment in Britain (In Our Time) – YouTube Podcasts: The failings of the French Revolution: https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/the-failings-of-the-french-revolution/ The French Revolution (2nd half of this pod) https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/wwi-army-rations-and-the-french-revolution/ Great thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment (2nd half) https://www.historyextra.com/period/napoleons-formative-years-and-great-thinkers-of-the-scottish-enlightenment/ |
| Term 4 Slavery in the Americas, why were people taken from Africa? | What is slavery? What was the Trade Triangle? Were there any benefits to the trade triangle (not for the slaves obviously)? What happened on the middle passage? How did plantations work? How did slaves resist? How was slavery abolished? Who was responsible for the abolition of slavery? | British slave owners: BBC Two – Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners, Profit and Loss An African history of slavery Slavery and Suffering – History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi [Episode 16] – YouTube |
| Term 5 How should we remember the British Empire? | How did the British Empire change over time? Why did Britain want an Empire? How did the Victorians view the Empire? What impression did the British give about their role in the Empire? What were people’s experiences of living in the British Empire? What happened when the Sepoys rebelled? How valued were the Empire troops in World War One? How did attitudes to Empire change over time? What impression did the British give of the Empire? | Podcast on the History of the Empire https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00547kp Read about Empire Watch about the Indian Mutiny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9tIOf-gvuA Watch about Empire troops in World War One Ian Hislop documentary “Not forgotten” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e43mHKNXEeA |
| Term 6 Was the Industrial Revolution ‘Liberty’s Dawn’? | What was the Industrial Revolution? How did Professor Emma Griffin uncover the lives of the unheard? Should Peter Sanderson move to Manchester in the 1850s? How convincing is Emma Griffin’s interpretation of family life? ‘Dawn of disaster’? Children in Industrial Britain Where should we site a museum to the Industrial Revolution? | Videos: The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course European History #24 – YouTube Prof. Emma Griffin discusses the voices from our Industrial past that she investigated for her book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Etarrv67TI Podcasts: Living on the edge in Victorian Britain: Emma Griffin discusses family life for working class Britons: https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/family-life-economy-working-class-victorian-britain-podcast-emma-griffin/ The Industrial Revolution revisited (1st half): https://www.historyextra.com/period/industrial-revolution/the-industrial-revolution-is-revisited-and-big-ben-turns-150/ The Rail Revolution (2nd half): https://www.historyextra.com/period/the-value-of-war-and-the-rail-revolution/ Life in a London Slum (1st half): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/life-in-a-london-slum-and-the-last-judgement/ |
Year 9
| Term 1 Why have there been different stories told about Britain’s Democracy 1800 – 1928? | How powerful were the people by 1800? How should we remember Peterloo? Who were the Chartists on Kennington Common? Why was there not a British revolution in 1848? Why did the ‘Match Girls’ go on strike in 1888? What was a ‘woman’s place’ in the C19th? Is Fern Riddell right to describe the suffragettes as terrorists? Did the suffragettes succeed in winning the vote for women? How should we tell the story of Britain’s journey to democracy? | Videos: Reform and Revolution 1815-1848: Crash Course European History #25 – YouTube Podcasts: The Chartist movement (2nd half of this pod): https://www.historyextra.com/period/hunting-the-regicides-and-the-chartist-movement/ Georgian terrorists: the Cato Street Conspiracy: https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/terrorists-cato-street-conspiracy-podcast-stephen-bates/ The Matchgirls strike (1st half of this pod): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/the-matchgirls-strike-and-back-to-1918/ Journalist Cathy Newman considers the women who made modern Britain: https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/women-who-made-modern-britain-cathy-newman-podcast/ The Pankhursts: https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-pankhursts/ The Suffragettes:https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-suffragettes/ The Plight of the Suffragettes (2nd half): https://www.historyextra.com/period/edwardian/thomas-paine-on-both-sides-of-the-atlantic-and-the-plight-of-the-suffragettes/ Who should we commemorate? https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/who-should-we-commemorate/ |
| Term 2 Who Won the War? | What can you learn about World War Two? How did Churchill win the war? What did the British people do during the war? Did Britain fight alone? Was the USA vital to winning the war? Did the USSR make more of a contribution than anyone else? Was Britain a better place after the war? | Visit the Imperial War Museum and the Churchill War Rooms https://www.iwm.org.uk/ Watch civilians in WW2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEvIOeELkBU&t=1s Watch the USA in WW2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEYu_ZvlS48 Read the USSR in WW2 Watch the USSR in WW2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWX84wGsXDk&t=1951s |
| Term 3 The Holocaust | What was the Holocaust and who were its victims? How and why were the Jews of Germany persecuted before 1939? How and why did the Nazis persecute different groups of people? How did some Jews and non-Jews resist the Holocaust? Was the experience of Nazi persecution the same for everyone? Who should be held responsible for the death of Abraham Baumann? | Podcasts: The big questions of the Holocaust: https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/the-big-questions-of-the-holocaust/ Everything you ever wanted to know about Nazi Germany, but were afraid to ask: https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-nazi-germany-hitler-ww2-richard-j-evans-podcast/ Confronting a dark past: https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/confronting-legacy-nazism-how-germany-podcast-chris-bowlby/ |
| Term 4 Why was the Cold War so hot? | What was the state of the world at the end of WW2? What was the USA like at the end of WW2? What was the USSR like at the end of WW2? Why did the USA and the USSR not like each other? What was the Iron Curtain? Why was MAD a thing from 1949. What was the Berlin Wall? How close did the world come to nuclear war in 1962? Why did the USA get involved in Vietnam? Who won the Space race? Détente The end of the cold war | Podcasts: Everything you ever wanted to know about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but were afraid to ask:https://www.historyextra.com/period/cold-war/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-cuban-missile-crisis-mark-white-podcast/ Videos: Cold war documentary series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmFpuLsumHidmOqHk37PfB4NCR7G7mtbd |
| Term 5 The End of the British Empire, did it have to end? | Who was Gandhi? What was the State of Britain after WW2? Why was India partitioned? Israel and Palestine; Is the conflict Britain’s fault? 1956 -1966 the wave of independence. Mau Mau. Should Hong Kong have been returned to China? The Commonwealth | End of Empire TV series: End of Empire (1985), chapter 1: The Beginning of the End – YouTube Reading: Map: The rise and fall of the British Empire – The Washington Post Reading: The Decline and Fall of the British Empire – HistoryExtra Reading: How big was the British Empire and why did it collapse? | The Week UK |
| Term 6 Civil Rights, was the Experience the Same in the USA and the UK? | What are civil rights? What was Jim Crow? What was the Windrush? How was the Windrush generation treated in Britain? Who fought against Jim Crow in the USA? How were Civil Rights fought for in the UK? Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Comparison. Was the experience of black people in the USA and UK the same or different? | Podcasts: Everything you ever wanted to know about the civil rights movement, but were afraid to ask: https://www.historyextra.com/period/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-civil-rights-movement-but-were-afraid-to-ask/ Videos: Alt History: Black British History We’re Not Taught in Schools – BBC Stories – YouTube Further reading: Black Heroes in the UK. Here Are the Most Inspiring Black Human Rights Heroes in the UK Today | EachOther |
Key Stage 4
At Key Stage 4 History is a non-compulsory subject that students can choose as one of their option choices. At Key Stage 4 students have two lessons of History per week. We follow the GCSE syllabus for Edexcel B SHP History. This course comprises of five distinct units.
Key Stage 5
At Key Stage 5 students will take four lessons of History per week. The students complete the AS unit in one year, this can be kept as a discrete qualification. If the student chooses they can continue History to complete the A level qualification. We deliver the GCE A Level AQA History syllabus. The full A-Level course comprises three distinct units, one unit of British History, one unit of non-British History and an independent study, which is non-examined.
| Year group or Course title | GCSE History |
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Course content | Paper 1 Medicine in Britain c, 1250 – present and the British sector of the Western Front 1914 – 18: injuries and treatment and the trenches. Paper 2 The American-West, c1835 – 1895Early Elizabethan England 1558 – 88 Paper 3Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918 – 1939 |
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Assessment | All units are assessed at the end of the course. Paper 1 is worth 30% of the qualification. Paper 2 is worth 40% of the qualification. (20% for each topic). Paper 3 is worth 30% of the qualification. |
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Equipment Needed | Standard school equipment. |
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Homework | Homework is set weekly. |
| Enrichment opportunities | Visit to Hampton Court Palace, Ypres and the First World War Battlefields in Belgium and Berlin. Revision classes are run after school. |
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Year group or Course title |
A Level History |
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Course content | AS Level Unit 1C – The Tudors 1485 – 1547 AS LevelUnit 2Q A LevelUnit 1C – The Tudors 1485 – 1603 A LevelUnit 2Q Non-examined unit – British Political History 1900 – 2010 |
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Assessment | At AS both units are assessed by examination, each worth 50% of the overall grade. At A Level both examined units are worth 40% of the overall grade and the non-examined unit is worth 20% of the overall grade. |
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Equipment Needed | Standard school equipment |
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Homework | Homework is set weekly for each unit. |
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Enrichment opportunities | Visits to Hampton Court Palace and Berlin. |