History
History is a subject that forms the bedrock of our understanding of the culture in which we live as well as the wider world around us. The content covered gives students the opportunity to explore issues at a local, national and international level from the ancient era through to the twentieth century. This range of history offers the opportunity to explore different peoples’ perspectives on issues and events and think critically about the world in which they live. Our curriculum is carefully sequenced to give students a broad understanding of the chronological development of British history, as well as being able to make links to other societies, cultures and world events.
Understanding key concepts within History, such as significance and causation and consequence, unlock the door for students to be able to ask leading questions, analyse information and convey their views in a methodical and structured way. These skills are honed and developed progressively through the curriculum to create historians confident in communicating their views, both in writing and orally. Each topic is framed around a challenging historical question which is linked to a key historical concept. Lessons mirror this, with key questions forming the basis for each lesson enquiry. This will ensure students access and apply high level vocabulary with increasing rigour over their time in history classrooms.
The History curriculum offered immerses students in a range of cultures and engenders an enquiring and critical outlook on the world, with skills that can be applied in other subjects and in their future endeavours.
Intent
We believe that students deserve a broad and ambitious History curriculum, rich in skills and knowledge, which immerses students in a range of cultures and engenders an enquiring and critical outlook on the world. Our History curriculum will give students the opportunity to:
- study issues at a local, national and international level in Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern and Modern time periods
- understand Britain’s influence on the wider world
- study the history and influence of different peoples and places across time
- assess the impact of events on individual and communities
- be exposed to a high level of historical and conceptual vocabulary
- learn to interpret a broad range of sources including visual sources and propaganda
- be exposed to different peoples’ perspectives on issues and events
- develop an understanding of how to apply and write about historical concepts such as causation; continuity and change; significance; consequence; diversity
- challenge received wisdom about historical figures and issues
- develop confidence in orating and debating historical issues and evaluate historical interpretations
The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:
- know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
- know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
- gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
- understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
- understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
- gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
Pupils should extend and deepen their chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, so that it provides a well-informed context for wider learning. Pupils should identify significant events, make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends within periods and over long arcs of time. They should use historical terms and concepts in increasingly sophisticated ways. They should pursue historically valid enquiries including some they have framed themselves, and create relevant, structured and evidentially supported accounts in response. They should understand how different types of historical sources are used rigorously to make historical claims and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed. In planning to ensure the progression described above through teaching the British, local and world history outlined below, teachers should combine overview and depth studies to help pupils understand both the long arc of development and the complexity of specific aspects of the content.
Pupils should be taught about:
- the development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509
- the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745
- ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901
- challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day including the Holocaust
- a local history study
- the study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066
- at least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments