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History

 Welcome to the History Department

"Those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana

Head of Department:

Mr Kenward
e-mail: mkenward2.310@parkhighstanmore.org.uk

Key Stage 3

We fulfil the National Curriculum, by ensuring there is a broadly chronological structure to the curriculum. Most topics are studied as periods of time, and a few are thematic or synoptic.  Being British with a range of heritages is what unites our students, so we have greater focus on British history and how other cultures have impacted on that.  We study the diversity of societies so that the experiences of people based on gender and ethnic origins are seen as an integral part of history.  Students learn how society and religion changed from pre-Roman to Tudor times, Islamic Civilisation, the Mughal and British Empires, the Industrial Revolution, the development of UK democracy, key 20th century conflicts and the impact of these on people from different countries and changes in UK society since 1945.   

Year 7

Autumn Spring Summer

Romans Britain 

1. How do we know about the Romans? 

2. What was everyday life like for people in Roman Britain? 

Middle Ages

1. How did the Norman invasion affect England? 

Middle Ages

2. What were the achievements of Islamic Civilisation in the Middle Ages? 

3. "Medieval life was fun."  Do you agree?  

Beliefs and ideas through time

1. How did the religious beliefs and practices of British people change over time? 

Tudors

1. How and why did England’s religion change under the Tudors? 
Assessment

1. Short knowledge test on the Roman invasions 

2. Writing task on utility of sources 

Extended writing on the consequences of the Norman invasion  

1. Mid-year exam - knowledge  

2. Short Knowledge test on Islamic Civilisation 

3. Oracy presentations on: "Medieval life was fun."  Do you agree? 

End of year exam – knowledge test for all topics so far and extended writing on changes in beliefs 

Online quiz about changes under the Tudors 

Home learning is allocated on a weekly basis on Teams.  This is an online quiz designed to help students embed knowledge into long-term memory.

Knowledge Organisers:

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Year 8 

 
Autumn Spring Summer

The Mughal Empire

  1. What mattered to the Mughals?

  2. What mattered to the British in India?

The British Empire

  1. What was Britain’s role in the slave trade?

  2. What was the impact of the British Empire?

Industrial Revolution

  1. 1. Why were the changes during Britain's Industrial revolution so important? 

    2. Why was life difficult for many people during the Industrial Revolution? 

    3. How did the Industrial Revolution affect local history? 

Democracy in Britain

  1. 1. How did the power of the monarch change from Medieval to Stuart times? 

    2. How did women win the right to vote? 
Assessment

1. Extended writing - what mattered to the Mughals?

1. Short knowledge test comparing the British and Mughal Empires

2. Online quiz – Impact of Empire

3. Mid-Year exam: Extended writing ‘Many different groups of people benefitted from the British Empire’.  How far do you agree?

 

1. Short knowledge test on changes/ inventions in the Industrial Revolution

2. Extended writing - why did life in towns become worse during the Industrial Revolution?

 

1. End of year exam – knowledge test for all topics so far plus extended writing on change in the power of the monarch / narrative

2. Online quiz - protests and voting

Home learning is allocated on a weekly basis on Teams.  This is an online quiz designed to help students embed knowledge into long-term memory.

Knowledge Organisers:

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If you would like to view this content please

 

Year 9

Autumn Spring Summer

20th Century Conflict:

1. Why did a Second World War start in 1939? 

2. How were civilians affected during the Second World War? 

3. Why is it important to remember the Holocaust? 

4. Why is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so controversial? 

Britain in the late 20th Century:

How and why did social attitudes change in Britain after 1945? 

1. How were traditional values challenged in the 1950s and 60s? 

2. How successfully did people challenge racist, sexist and homophobic attitudes in society? 

3. Why was there social unrest from the 1960s to 80s? 

Britain in the late 20th Century continued
Assessment

1. GCSE question style 12 mark causes question – WW2 

2. Research project on the impact of WW2 on chosen country 

3. GCSE question style 4 mark follow up detail in source question- Holocaust 

4. Mid-year exam – knowledge 

5. Online quiz on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 

1. GCSE question style 4 marks following up a detail in a source – Britain freedom and equality 

2. End of year exam – knowledge of all work in Y9 plus extended writing evaluating success of challenging racist attitudes 1970s-80s 

3. Online quiz – troubled times 

Home learning is allocated on a weekly basis on Teams.  This is an online quiz designed to help students embed knowledge into long-term memory.

Key Stage 4

At GCSE, students study Elizabethan England, Germany 1919-39, the Cold War and Medicine in Britain from 1250.  These topics were chosen to showcase Elizabeth I as a strong female leader, to provide a political and social context for the world today and to interest students who aspire to study medicine in the future.    

Year 10

Students study the Edexcel/Pearson syllabus, which can be viewed here:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html

Students study the Edexcel/Pearson syllabus, which can be viewed here:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable 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.
Autumn Spring Summer

Early Elizabethan England (1558-88)

  1. Queen, Government &Religion, 1558-69 

  1. Challenges to Elizabeth at home and abroad, 1569-88 

  1. Elizabethan society in the Age of Exploration, 1558-88 

Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-39 

  1. Weimar Germany 

  1. Hitler’s rise to power, 1919-33 

  1. Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933-39 

  1. Life in Nazi Germany, 1933-39 

Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941-91 

  1. The origins of the Cold War, 1941-58 

  1. Cold War Crises, 1958-70 

  1. The end of the Cold War, 1970-91 (in Y11) 
Assessment

  1. Describe two features of Elizabeth’s religious settlement, 1559 (4) 

  1. ‘The threat of invasion was Elizabeth’s main problem when she became queen in 1558.’ How far do you agree? (16) 

  1. Explain why England went to war with Spain (12) 

  1. Short knowledge assessment 

  1. Mid-year exam (January) – Past paper 

  1. Mock exam (April) 

  1. Mock Exam (Y11) 

1. Explain why 1924-1929 was a golden age in the Weimar Republic. You may use the following in your answer: Women; Culture. You must also use information of your own (12) 

2. How far do you agree with Interpretation 2 about the reasons for increased support for the Nazis in the years 1929-32? (16) 

3. ‘How useful are sources N and P for an enquiry into the attitudes of the Nazis to the Christian Church?’ sources on page 72. (8) 

4. Interpretation questions on youth. Use the sample paper. (2x4 marks) 

5. Mock exam (April); 6. Mock Exam (Y11) 

1. Explain the importance of the Truman Doctrine for the development of the Cold War (8) 

2. Write a narrative account analysing the key events of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956. You may use the following in your answer: • Imre Nagy; Soviet tanks. (8) 

3. Explain two consequences of Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’. (8)… set at the start of Y11 

4. Mock Exam (Y11)

All students who follow this course will be given home learning weekly – an online quiz on Teams, designed to embed knowledge into long-term memory.  Every 3 weeks on average and exam question will also be set as homework. Wider reading is always useful either from the websites offered, the text book or as directed by their classroom teacher.

In the Summer Term, each student will sit a formal, internal exam which will consist of all elements taught throughout the course. Appropriate preparation in the form of revision should be taken seriously with sufficient planning and organisation to ensure each student fulfils their potential.

Examination Board:

Edexcel

Year 11

Students study the Edexcel/Pearson syllabus, which can be viewed here:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html

The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable 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.
Autumn Spring Summer

Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941-91 (started in Y10) 

3. The end of the Cold War, 1970-91 (in Y11)

Medicine in Britain 125-Present (Section B) 

  1. C.1250-1500: Medicine in Medieval England 
  2. C.1500-1700: The medical renaissance in England  
  3. C.1700-1900: Medicine in c18 and c19 Britain 
  4. C.1900-present: Medicine in modern Britain  

Medicine in Britain 125-Present (Section A – WW1 Site Study) 

WW1 Site Study

Revision 
Assessment

1. Explain two consequences of Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’. (8)… set at the start of Y11 

2. Mock Exam (Nov) 

  1. Explain one way in which people’s reactions to the plague in Britain were similar in the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries- (4) 

  1. Explain why some changes took place in medical knowledge during the period c1500-1700 (12) 

  1. ‘Jenner’s vaccination against smallpox was a major breakthrough in the prevention of disease in Britain during the period c1700-1900’ (16+4) 

  1. GCSE Past Paper (February) 

Exams

KS4 Assessment:

All students who follow this course will be given home learning weekly – an online quiz on Teams, designed to embed knowledge into long-term memory.  Every 3 weeks on average and exam question will also be set as homework.

In the Summer Term, each student will sit a formal, internal exam which will consist of all elements taught throughout the course. Appropriate preparation in the form of revision should be taken seriously with sufficient planning and organisation to ensure each student fulfils their potential.

The 4 topics studied overall for GCSE are:

Paper

Topic

Type of study

Exam time

marks

% of grade

1

Medicine in Britain, c1250–present

Thematic study

1 hour 15 minutes

36

30%

The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18

Historic environment

16

2

Early Elizabethan England (1558-88)

British depth study

1 hour 45 minutes

32

40%

Superpower relations and the Cold War (1941-91)

Period study

32

3

Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-39)

Modern Depth Study

1 hour 20 minutes

52

30%
Examination Board:

Edexcel

Course Specification:

 GCSE History (9-1) 

Qualification obtained:

GCSE History

 
Useful Reading Material

Hodder GCSE History for Edexcel: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39, by John Wright, Steve Waugh

Hodder GCSE History for Edexcel: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91, by John Wright, Steve Waugh

Hodder GCSE History for Edexcel: Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88, by Barbara Mervyn

Hodder GCSE History for Edexcel: Medicine Through Time, c1250–Present, by Ian Dawson

Additional Information

Useful Websites

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/subjects/history.html

https://learning.parliament.uk/resources/?age-range-suitability=age-11-to-14&theme=history#main

https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home

Enrichment

We go beyond the curriculum through the Year 7 enrichment trip to St Albans Abbey and Verulamium Roman Museum and historical sites, a GCSE residential trip to the World War One Battlefields in Belgium and France, visits for year 12-13 to the London Library and a visiting historian speaker.  New trips being planned include the Cabinet War Rooms. 

 

KS5 Subject information

 

 

Subject Careers Information

 
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