History

The History Department curriculum inspires students to become curious about and engage with the past. In doing so it embeds an understanding of the key processes used by historians to interpret the past. The study of history is essential for understanding the world we live in today. Our curriculum encourages students to explore aspects of their identities at a local, national and international level, engaging with the experiences of a diverse range of people in a wide range of contexts and historical settings.

At Key Stage 3, students will develop a secure understanding of chronology from the Romans through to the present day.  Our aim is to place key events, themes and ideas in British history into their wider European and world contexts. Through chronology, we help our students sequence events, draw comparisons between different time periods and develop a strong sense of period. Our curriculum covers the sweeping changes in history, including the move from medieval monarchy to parliamentary democracy, and from a feudal economy to an industrialised nation. Teaching through enquiry questions helps students understand the key themes in each unit.  Key historical skills are taught so that students recognise not just what happened, but how we know and interpret the past. Skills are introduced at the start of Year 7 to bridge any gaps from primary school, and are built on progressively through the curriculum in preparation for KS4. Students are encouraged to communicate their ideas about the past in a variety of ways, often using their creative skills to share their understanding. Where possible, history is not just taught in the classroom but through extra-curricular activities to help build cultural capital. By the end of Key Stage 3, our students have a good understanding of the key changes that took place in Britain over the past two millennia, will be confident in handing evidence and interpretations and asking critical questions that will enable them to tackle GCSE history confidently.

The curriculum at Key Stage 4 builds on the knowledge and understanding developed at Key Stage 3 through a study of medicine through time. It also covers aspects of political history including Germany and the Cold War. Finally, students study King Henry VIII and his ministers, picking up on ideas about medieval kingship and the Reformation studied at Key Stage 3. The curriculum continues to develop their skills at handling evidence and interpretations, so that by the end of the key stage they can confidently assess the utility of a source, and explain the validity of different interpretations of the past. 

Our curriculum in Year 12 investigates the experiences of people across the world in the twentieth century in fighting for their rights and freedoms. This develops students' historical skills which include the ability to handle sources, interrogate interpretations and construct supported judgements about the past, skills which will be useful for further academic study and elsewhere. In Year 13 students consider the experience of warfare in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, both in terms of military developments as well as its impact on society. Students also further their understanding of the work of historians by evaluating historians' interpretations of an area of historical controversy.