Intent

Our curriculum should:

• Encourage learners to be reflective and resilient.
• Produce students who are appreciative of other cultures, societies, religions and groups of people.
• Teach skills needed for GCSE History, careers and life. 
• Engage students – promote interest in the subject.
• Equip students to make progress throughout KS3 and KS4 and enable them to transition to KS5.
• Assess students regularly.
• Teach learners about Britain and the wider world.
• Allow for the development of cross-curricular skills.
• Provide for extra-curricular activities – e.g. trips, to the Imperial War Museum in KS3 and Berlin in KS4.

Implementation of Curriculum at Ks3 and Ks4 

In Key Stage 3, the History Curriculum is created to give students a balance of social, political, military and … history. The students are introduced to the importance of History in understanding our world, our locality and ourselves.

In Year 7, students will study the main features of Britain in the Anglo-Saxon, Medieval period and the Early Modern Period. Students will explore the changes and continuity between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman period. Students will then explore the power of the King, Church and how society worked during the Later Medieval Period. We study the role of the Monarch and Church during the Early Modern period.

In Year 8, students will investigate the role that Britain played in the slave trade. We will also explore how slavery developed in America and the ending of slavery in Britain and America. Students will then decide whether the British Empire was a force for good or bad. Students will explore actions in India, China, Ireland and Australia; whilst being aware of the vast array of countries and the impact of the Empire. This topic naturally helps students in our study of the Industrial Revolution, where students evaluate the living conditions in major cities such as London, Liverpool and Portsmouth. Students will specifically investigate how the Industrial Revolution changed Portsmouth. We will learn about how women gained the vote in 1918 and explore the impact of the Suffragettes, Suffragists and women during World War I. Our penultimate topic in Year 8 is World War I, students will investigate the conditions, type of warfare, tactics, key battles and the home front. The final topic of Year 8 is America in the 1920s. Students will evaluate the reasons for economic growth and collapse, the impact of prohibition, what the KKK were in the 1920s and the treatment of Communists.

In Year 9, students will start of by learning about Russia between 1900-1939. This is for the purpose of fully understanding the principles of Communism and the reality. This will lead into the causes and events of World War II. Students will investigate the main reason for the start of World War II, they will also try to assess the main turning point in World War II and assess how much life for citizens changed as a result of war. Students will then assess how the Holocaust was able to happen and judge how the treatment of Jewish people changed in the 1930s and early 1940s. This will be followed by students learning about when "World War III" seemed most likely by exploring events of the Cold War. There is a key focus upon the Korean War and Vietnam War.

Key Stage 4 (Year 10-11)

Edexcel GCSE History

At Key Stage 4, as part of Paper 1, the course takes us across 1,500 years of history with the History of Crime and Punishment. In Paper 2, we look in depth at British history when we examine Early Elizabethan England 1558-1588 and international history where we explore the Superpower Relations 1941-1991. We also examine Germany from 1918-1939 in Paper 3. The course is very challenging and academic however pupils are supported by a strong department and fortnightly revision sessions in Year 11 and drop-in sessions in Year 10.

Elizabeth 1558-1588 (Paper 2: 20%)

• Key topic 1: Queen, government and religion, 1558–69
• Key topic 2: Challenges to Elizabeth at home and abroad, 1569–88
• Key topic 3: Elizabethan society in the Age of Exploration, 1558–88

Crime and Punishment 1000-present day (Paper 1: 30%)

• c1000–c1500: Crime and punishment in medieval England
• c1500–c1700: Crime and punishment in early modern England
• c1700–c1900: Crime and punishment in eighteenth- and nineteenth century Britain
• c1900–present: Crime and punishment in modern Britain

• Whitechapel, c1870-c1900: crime, policing and the inner city

Weimar and Nazi Germany 1919-1939 (Paper 3: 30%)

• Key topic 1: The Weimar Republic 1918–29
• Key topic 2: Hitler’s rise to power, 1919–33
• Key topic 3: Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933–39
• Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39

Cold War 1941-1991 (Paper 2: 20%)

• Key topic 1: The origins of the Cold War, 1941–58
• Key topic 2: Cold War crises, 1958–70
• Key topic 3: The end of the Cold War, 1970–91

Careers