History
Back"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time. It illuminates reality, vitalises memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.”
Marcus Tulius Cicero
Staff members
Mr M Jones (Head of Department)
Miss I Connor
Mr L Dixon
Mr C Lawson
Miss E Stimpson
Mrs V Thomas
Subject Definition
History is the study of people, actions, decisions, interactions and behaviours. It is so compelling a subject because it encapsulates themes which expose the human condition in all of its guises and that resonate throughout time: power, weakness, corruption, tragedy, triumph…History’s primary purpose is to stand at the centre of diverse, tolerant, intellectually rigorous debate about our existence: our political systems, leadership, society, economy and culture.
The past exerts an endless fascination. We are interested in the past because we are interested in our roots, or because we are interested in the way the world around us has been shaped, or because we are intrigued by the ‘otherness’ of different people who lived at different times (diversity).
Through its remains, and through books and films which represent it, the past is immediate and accessible. However, our knowledge and understanding of the past will always be partial and incomplete.
History is ever evolving. As more is uncovered over time, our understanding of History changes.
Subject Purpose
Help[ing] [us] gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world…Inspiring [our] curiosity to know more about the past.
It equips us to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps [us] 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.
It teaches the life skills of tolerance and empathy. It also develops students understanding of what it means to be human.
Substantive concepts such as ‘empire’, ‘the Church’, ‘revolution’ or ‘kingship’. See the full list here:
-Some concepts and terms (such as Calvinism) are highly specific to a particular period or place – and it is easy to recognise that their meaning needs to be explicitly taught.
-Other concepts (such as Puritanism or Bolshevism) that originated in specific contexts may come to be applied more widely, so that students’ more general awareness of their meaning can obscure a lack of precision in their historical knowledge.
-Others (such as ‘the Church’ or ‘revolution’) have a much wider application and are applied in many contexts other than history. In dealing with this category, we need not only to ensure that students understand their meaning, rather than simply assuming that they do because they are works in common usage; we also need to plan for learning about how that meaning changes over time and in different contexts.
Second order concepts of change and continuity, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, connections, interpretation, diversity, drawing contrasts, analysing trends, frame historically valid questions.
KS3 Overview
Children naturally ask the questions, “Why?”, “How?”, “When?” and “Who?” In part, history can answer these questions. As well as unravelling the past for these answers, students should learn to ask, “How do we know what we know?” They need to be trained to question the evidence and its validity, so that they grow up questioning and testing all accepted premises.
The end product of History, however, should not be a negative cynic, but a seeker of the truth who endeavours to make informed judgements.
The KS3 curriculum must reflect the needs of society and the child in that society. A glib statement, but flexibility, tolerance, numeracy, literacy, an appreciation of the impact of technology and rapid changes, an understanding of democracy and the interdependence of the world, all seem relevant needs for a citizen in the 21st Century.
Our aim is not just to give the student a mind full of knowledge, but to give them a mind tuned to the pitfalls of ignorance, prejudice, bias, intolerance and apathy; to give them a mind capable of thinking for itself and conscious of its world.
We want to deliver a History curriculum in an exciting and stimulating way, which develops our students to their optimum.
The choice of History syllabus and the teaching approach have been determined by the following considerations:
The special nature of history as an academic discipline.
History is an enquiry into the past through the study of surviving sources.
It is concerned with:
-Change and continuity.
-Past events, individuals and social economic relations in the past.
-Causation and motivation.
The development of the following attitudes and abilities:
-An ability to understand the world in which they live through contrast with past events and some knowledge of causes of development and continuity.
-An ability to make critical judgements in preparation for life as citizens in a democracy.
-An ability to co-operate with others irrespective of race, class, gender, religion or intelligence.
-An interest in history as a leisure pursuit, which is accessible and rewarding.
-An ability to understand other people through the study of past individuals and mass movements, their motivation, actions and achievements.
-To understand the nature of change and continuity, cause and consequence in our society.
-Self-confidence: by producing a variety of approaches to history so that all achieve some measure of success.
National Curriculum requirements:
At the end of KS3, and in theory the end of compulsory History education, students should:
-Have acquired a firm and clear chronological framework within which to place and relate new information.
-Ask a broad range of historical questions
-Be aware of varied and often conflicting interpretations of past events
-Understand the broad fundamental concepts common to all historical explanations and also a range of more specific ones
-Relate events to a broad approach to history which involves not only local, national, European and world issues but also covers major political, cultural, scientific and technological developments
-Gain insight into processes of social and economic change, particularly with relation to British History and of the influence of individual men and women on these changes
-Develop an awareness of the special and also the common qualities, aspirations and achievements of societies through time
-Be aware of the problems dealing with a range of sources of evidence.
KS4 Overview
The AQA GCSE course (8145) that students follow ensures a substantial study of history as its structure embeds the requirement to study history across three eras, three time scales and three geographical contexts. Students will develop a secure understanding of chronology, knowledge and understanding of history on different scales and contexts, apply historical concepts and processes such as significance, cause and consequence etc and engage with the nature of evidence and interpretation. Students will also engage with a variety of perspectives, such as political, social and economic, and investigate the contributions of key individuals and groups. In this way students will be able to draw parallels and make links between the distinct areas of study.
The GCSE course encourages students to:
-develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of specified key events, periods and societies in local, British, and wider world history; and of the wide diversity of human experience
-engage in historical enquiry to develop as independent learners and as critical and reflective thinkers
-develop the ability to ask relevant questions about the past, to investigate issues critically and to make valid historical claims by using a range of sources in their historical context
-develop an awareness of why people, events and developments have been accorded historical significance and how and why different interpretations have been constructed about them
-organise and communicate their historical knowledge and understanding in different ways and reach substantiated conclusions.
One thematic study: Health and the People
This enables students to understand change and continuity across a long sweep of history. The study covers all three specified eras.
One period study: The USA 1920-1973
This allows students to focus on a substantial and coherent medium time span of at least 50 years.
The study will require students to understand an unfolding narrative of substantial developments and issues.
Two depth studies: Elizabethan England & Conflict and Tension in Asia
One British and one wider world. Depth studies enable students to focus on a substantial and coherent short time span. The studies enable students to gain understanding of the complexities of a society or historical situation and the interplay of different aspects within it.
| Subject Documents |
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| KS3 History Curriculum Plan 2022 23 |
| Key Stage 4 History Curriculum Plan |
