History

Welcome

"Our history curriculum is designed to equip our students, regardless of their starting point, with a wide range of historical knowledge and skills, enabling them to fulfil their potential and realise their ambitions in the pursuit of becoming excellent historians as they progress through the Key Stages. "

The curriculum aims to:

offer historical breadth, historical balance and relevance
develop all the essential key historical knowledge within our curriculum, building on the historical understanding and vital skills of historians, regardless of gender, ability, ethnicity or social background
ensure equal access to learning for all pupils, with high expectations for every pupil and appropriate levels of challenge and support as the curriculum builds in terms of complexity
encourage students to enjoy history
foster disciplinary literacy skills across key stages
foster cultural development through research, engagement with scholarship to “embrace the inner geek”.
support pupils’, social and cultural development through a study of British history at the local, national and international level.
generate a wealth of cross-curricular activities including events, clubs, and trips
equip pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to contribute positively to their community as British & global citizens
promote British values, including the rule of law, democracy and individual liberty.
prepare students for the next stage in their lives by encouraging resilience, self-reliance and an understanding of their responsibility to take ownership of their own learning as they build skills as historians

Curriculum journey

By the end of Year 7 Historians will…

Understand how Britain had changed from 410AD to 1380AD
Know how China developed during the Song Dynasty
Be able to use historical skills of evaluative writing of the second order concepts, contemporary source analysis and evaluation of varying historical interpretations

By the end of Year 8 Historians will…

Understand how Britain changed from 1509 to 1900 AD
Know how China developed during the Ming Dynasty
Be able to develop the historical skills of evaluative writing of the second order concepts, contemporary source analysis and evaluation of varying historical interpretations with increased complexity and depth

By the end of Year 9 Historians will…

Understand how Britain changed from the 1900s to the Post War period
Have completed a study of how Europe and the world changed in the 20th century
Be able to refine the key historical skills of evaluative writing of the second order concepts, contemporary source analysis and evaluation of varying historical interpretations with increased complexity and depth

Year 10 Historians will..

Know how Germany changed politically and socially from 1890 – 1945
Understand how superpower relations changed between East and West through the Conflict & Tension 1945 – 1972 unit
Understand how Restoration Britain, 1660 – 1685 changed politically, socially and economically
Be able to refine and progress their historical skills needed for these papers [more detail on AQA Website]
Have explored history beyond the specifications studied

Year 11 Historians will..

Understood how Britain was shaping and shaped by the world through the study of Migration, Empires and the People c.700 – 2016
Know how to revise and prepare for the GCSE exams [more detail on AQA Website]
Have explored history beyond the specifications studied

Year 12 Historians will..

Have understood Britain’s changes through – Industrialisation & the People from 1783 – 1832 – exploring the political, economic and social changes
Have understood how the United States developed in depth through American Dream – 1945 – 1963 – exploring political, social, economic and civil rights challenges
Be able to develop the key A Level skill needed for these papers [more detail on AQA website]
Need to understand their NEA requirements through preparation for component 3 – 20% of final exam

Year 13 Historians will..

Have understood how Britain has changed over time through the breadth study – Industrialisation & the People from 1783 – 1832 – exploring the political, economic and social changes
Have understood how the United States developed in depth through their unit of American Dream – 1945 – 1963 – exploring political, social, economic and civil rights challenges
Be able to refine the key A Level skills needed for these papers [more detail on AQA website]
Completed their NEA component 3 – 20% of final exam

Curriculum Map

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 7	Anglo Saxons and Vikings	Medieval Realms	Medieval Realms	Medieval Realms	Song & Yuan Dynasties	Song & Yuan Dynasties
Year 8	The Making of the UK	The Making of the UK	The 13 Colonies	Industrial Britain and the 19th Century	Industrial Britain and the 19th Century	The Qing Dynasty
Year 9	Edwardian Britain & Titanic	World War One and the interwar years	Second World War era	The Holocaust	Post War World – Terrorism/ Post Colonialism	20th Century China
Year 10	Kaiser’s Germany and Weimar	Nazis 1933 -1945	Conflict and Tension	Conflict and Tension – Mock Revision	Restoration Britain	Restoration Britain
Year 11	Migration M ediaeval	Migration E arly Modern	Migration 19th Century	Migration to 20th Century - Mock revision	Revision
Year 12	Political Britain 1783-1812 Truman	Social Britain– Economic 1783 – 1812 Truman	Political Britain1812 – 1832 Eisenhower	Social & Economic 1812 – 1832 Eisenhower	Britain by 1832 Kennedy & USA by 1963	NEA Prep and Planning & Year 12 Consolidation
Year 13	Political Britain 1832 – 1846 Johnson	Social- Economic Britain 1832- 1846 Johnson	Political Britain 1846 – 1885 Nixon	Social & Economic Britain 1846 – 1885 Ford & Carter	Britain up to 1885 America up to 1980 Revision
Year 12 Politics	Component 1- Politics Democracy & Participation Political Parties	Component 1- Politics Electoral Systems Voting Behaviour	Component 2 - Government The Constitution Parliament	Component 2 - Government PM & Executive Relations between branches	Component 1 & 2 consolidation & Component 3 – USA The Constitution	Component 3 – USA The Constitution
Year 13 Politics	Component 3 – USA US Congress Component 1 & 2 Core political ideas	Component 3 – USA US Presidency Component 1 & 2 Core political ideas	Component 3 – USA US Supreme Court Component 1 & 2 Non-core political ideas	Component 3 – USA US Democracy & Participation Component 1 & 2 Revision	Revision

We have four full-time teachers: Mr. Michael Stoker, Mr. Patrick Taylor, Miss Anna Jowett, and Mr. Andrew Harding. Our Head of Sixth Form, Mr. Darren Leatherbarrow, also contributes to our teaching.

Our department is housed in a dedicated suite of five classrooms, including a multi-purpose computer room and a seminar room specifically for sixth form students. We are proud to offer exceptional mentoring to trainee teachers year after year.

We take great pride in our department’s appearance and are delighted to have consistently ranked in the top three departments in the school display competitions for the past five years.

A summary of the major features of our curriculum are listed below.

Key Stage 3

From KS3 to KS5 we ensure that we provide excellent teaching and aim high, always teaching to the top. We are proud that our KS3 curriculum is current, up to date and inclusive. Our overall approach to KS3 History is to study British History chronologically from the Medieval period to the 20^th century. Alongside this we also study a number of comparative international courses. Please see the accompanying information for more curriculum specifics.

Other events for KS3 students

One of the most successful activities run by the department at KS3 is our modelling club. Over the years the club has produced models of several significant battles including Waterloo, D-Day and Rorkes Drift. Currently students are working on a Battle of Britain dog fight as well as their own individual projects. We regularly apply for PTFA funding to sponsor our ongoing projects.

GCSE

GCSE uptake is very strong, with History remaining one of the most popular option subjects. We began teaching the reformed GCSE in September 2016, following the AQA specification.

For Paper 1, we cover Germany (1890–1945) and the Cold War (1945–1972). In Paper 2, students study a thematic course on British history, from 790 AD to the present day, focusing on migration and the development of empire. The final unit of Paper 2 is a depth study on Restoration England (1660–1685).

Our students consistently perform above the national average in GCSE History, and we strive for continued excellence in this subject.

One of the most popular elements of the GCSE course is the enrichment trip to Berlin. This trip provides an excellent opportunity for students to understand the modern courses we study in an active and engaging way. We visit a variety of places in and around the city including Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Reichstag and many other sites of importance.

A Level

A Level performance is also very strong. One in three of our students goes on to study History or related degrees at Russell Group universities, and we take great pride in our success in helping candidates gain admission to Oxbridge.

Our department regularly hosts guest speakers, university lecturers, and talks, alongside enrichment opportunities shaped by pupil voice.

In recent years, we have supported A Level trips to Berlin, New York, the British Supreme Court, and the Houses of Parliament. We are always looking to adapt and expand our trips, so keep an eye out for future opportunities.

Our A Level results have been consistently impressive. Since the introduction of the new specification, an average of 66% of our students have achieved A*-B grades, with over 92% attaining A*-C grades.

We have in recent years organised a study visit to New York in October half term and this occurs every two years. Keep an eye out as are always looking to adapt trips. Our results at A level are also very successful since starting the new specification we have had an average of 62% of our students getting A*-B and above 92% of A*-C.

A Level Politics

From September 2009 the department has offered A level Government and Politics. In year 12 students study British politics and in year 13 they study the development of political ideologies. The course is taught in a variety of ways and in particular there is a real emphasis on students engaging with current affairs in order to bring their knowledge and understanding up to date.

Performance in Politics has been steadily improving. The average A*-B grade achievement is 58%, with approximately 88% of students attaining A*-C grades. Many of our Politics students proceed to study Politics, International Relations, and related subjects at the degree level.

As well as this we go on a number of visits and arrange talks. In recent years the department has organised a school mock elections and mock referenda. The most recent election we were very fortunate to have the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats deliver excellent speeches to students from our entire school. Our students have also recently taken part in a model United Nations day in Oxford and are regular participants in Youth Parliament and Young EU discussions. We regularly host special guests ranging from MPs, Mayors, Ambassadors and more.

Trips

We have a number of study visits including a comparison visit to Chepstow and Berkeley Castles, Parliament, The Commandery in Worcester, and the Imperial War Museum to support students in studying across all the different key stages. We also run a guided visit to the WWI battlefields in France and Belgium every activities week for Year 8s. As well as this we organise a number of visits from various historical backgrounds such as a WWI Tommy, local museum curators, and even guest professors from leading universities.