History

The Humanities conceptual curriculum is focused on equipping students with powerful knowledge which will enrich their understanding of and engagement with the world as global citizens. It teaches values and cognitive skills with real life relevance for future citizens to develop their capacity to be independent learners throughout their time at school and after.

The scope of the History course expands in time and space over the 3 years at Key Stage 3. Year 7 focuses on British history over the last 1000 years including the Norman Conquest, the Tudors and the Industrial Revolution. Year 8 explores topics from international history from the last 2000 years including life in the Roman and British Empires, the effects of the Black Death pandemic, exploration and Tokugawa era Japan. Year 9 focuses on topics from global history over the last 5000 years under the banner of ‘Human Rights and Human Wrongs’ and includes studies of African history and the World Wars.

In these topics History’s concepts: causation, change, diversity, significance and interpretations are explored through a range of enquiry assessments.

Key Stage 4

Exam Board: AQA

At GCSE, students study four components:

Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and dictatorship
Conflict and Tension: the inter-war years, 1918-1939
Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day
Norman England, c1066–c1100

Students develop a wide range of skills: the ability to assess source material; to evaluate arguments and to communicate their own ideas clearly. These are skills which are not only valuable in themselves but relevant to many different careers and courses.

Pupils work on these areas is assessed by two examinations of two hours each. The two examinations take place at the end of Year 11.

The department runs visits to support different units of the GCSE course including visits to sites in the UK connected to the Norman Conquest and the history of healthcare and is planning an overseas visit to Berlin to support students learning of Germany in the first half of the 20^th Century.

To view the Specification for GCSE please click here.