Skip to content

History

To view our curriculum plans, please click the following:

Year 7      Year 8      Year 9      Year 10      Year 11      Year 12      Year 13

 

To view the History Department Feedback Policy, please click here.

Intent

Our intent at Key Stage 3 is to develop and deliver an ambitious and inspirational curriculum that advantages every student. All students will access local, national and world History focusing on the pivotal moments, which will shape their understanding of the world in which they live. We want all students to be able to articulate their knowledge and understanding verbally, aurally and in written form. They will develop a strong foundation of transferrable skills such as working independently and as part of a group, as well as the ability to investigate, question and make complex judgements about the topics studied. Students should be able to apply historical concepts and context to relevant situations in their everyday life. Students should then be able to embrace the social, political and cultural makeup of their local community and the wider world.

\"\"

KS3 History is a skills driven subject working which teaches chronologically British, European and World History. Students will be introduced to the key skills needed to succeed in History in the first half-term of Year 7 and then have these developed as progress is made through studies of: Medieval Realms, Religion and Power, Industry and Imperialism, The Twentieth Century and Aspects of the Modern World – bringing their historical knowledge as close to the present day as is possible. We aim for our subject to be relevant, fun, innovative, challenging, reflective and focused.

The gallery was not found!

Every year we arrange for a Holocaust Survivor to come into school to speak to all of Year 9 who have learnt about World War Two, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. This year Lady Milena Grenfell- Bains, a Kindertransport survivor, and our local MP Louise Ellman came into school.
We have also participated in joint History – German trips to Germany. This academic year we went Cologne to enjoy the Christmas markets as well as a little bit of History. We saw the magnificent Cologne Cathedral which survived the heavy bombings on the city during World War Two as well as visiting a Gestapo museum. In 2014 the German and History department went to Berlin where we took in the cultural as well as historical sites of the city.

Competitions:
Year 7 design a castle of William competition.
• Students are asked to purchase items for their castle. They are given a limit of one million pounds. With their items, they design / make their castle using their purchased items. There will be a winner from each class and there will be an overall winner. The winners will receive house points and certificates.

Key Stage 3 – Hard Boiled History Figure.
• Produce a portrait of a key figure in history painted on a boiled egg!

The gallery was not found!

Years 7-9

Textbooks/other useful resources

  • SHP Year 7: The Roman Empire and England 1066 – 1500 by Maggie Wilson & Ian Dawson. (ISBN9780340907337)
  • SHP year 8 by Christopher Culpin & Ian Dawson (ISBN – 9780340907368)
  • SHP Year 9 by Dale Banham & &an Luff (ISBN 9780340907399)

Also available in the library – All About History Magazine (monthly)

GCSE (9-1) History

Edexcel

UNIT 1 – Medicine in Britain & The British Sector of the Western Front (30%)

The main focus of this paper is change / continuity overtime and the significance of the change and reasons for it.

Topics include:

  • Medieval medicine including role of the church, public health & Black Death
  • Medicine Renaissance including Vesalius, Harvey, the Printing press, the Plague and how to treat King Charles I
  • 1750 – 1900 – Developments in cause of illness and prevention – Germ Theory & Smallpox
  • 20th Century – Effective treatments – Penicillin, NHS and DNA
  • Effects of the Environment of WW1 – illnesses and diseases and the developmentsThis paper is a British Depth Study.

UNIT 2a – Henry VIII and His Ministers (20%)

Topics include:

  • Work of Thomas Wolsey – Relations with France & Spain, his failure to annulment the marriage to Catherine of Aragon and his fall from power.
  • Work of Thomas Cromwell – he annulled the marriage of Catherine of Aragon, prominent in the downfall of Anne Boleyn, the marriage to Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves and eventually his fall from power
  • Effects of the break with Rome – Dissolution of the monasteries, opposition to religious change and the Pilgrimage of Grace.This paper is a period study.

UNIT 2b – The Cold War (20%)

Topics include:

  • Causes of the Cold War – Capitalism Vs Communism, WW2 peace conferences, events in Europe and the Berlin blockade & airlift.
  • Key Events of the Cold War – Cause, Course & consequence of three crises – Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis and Opposition in Czechoslovakia.
  • End of the Cold War – Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’, fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union.This is a modern depth study

UNIT 3 – Weimar and Nazi Germany (30%)

Topics include:

Weimar Germany – End of WW1, Creation of the democratic Weimar Government, the problems it faced and the Golden Era of 1924 – 1929

Rise of Hitler e.g. Munich Putsch and the Creation of the Nazi Dictatorship

Impact of the Nazi Dictatorship on the German people (men, women & children), minority groups and opposition to the Nazis

Full specification is available at – http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html

Text books used:

  • Hodder GCSE History for Edexcel: Medicine Through Time, c1250 – Present by Ian Dawson (ISBN – 9781 471861376)
  • Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Henry VIII and His ministers, 1509 – 1540 by Simon Taylor (ISBN – 978-1292127255)
  • Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941 – 91 by Christopher Catherwood & Nigel Kelly (ISBN – 9781292127279)
  • Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Weimar and Nazi Germany by John Child (ISBN – 978-1292127347)

Further reading/resources:

  • Revise Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Medicine in Britain Revision Guide and workbook (ISBN – 978 – 1292169729)
  • Revise Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Henry VIII Revision Guide and Workbook (ISBN – 978- 1292176390)
  • Revise Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Superpower Relations and the Cold War Revision Guide and Workbook (ISBN – 978 – 1292169750)
  • Revise Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Weimar and Nazi Germany revision Guide and Workbook (ISBN – 978 – 1292169736)

Revision websites:

A Level

Edexcel – Pathway H (Democracies in Change – Britain and the USA in the 20th Century)

  • Unit 1 – Britain Transformed (1918 – 97)
  • Unit 2 – The USA, c1920 – 55: Boom, Bust and Recovery
  • Unit 3 – Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors, 1485 – 1603
  • Unit 4 – Coursework

 

Democracies in change: Britain and the USA in the Twentieth century

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Britain’s welfare system provides health care and education for all its citizens and the USA has voted into power a mixed-race president. In 1918, both of these things would have been unimaginable to most of those living at the time. Route H studies how the two leading western democracies responded and adapted to the challenges brought about by the greater political, social and economic expectations of ordinary people in the twentieth century.

The First World War was an event which sent shockwaves around the globe, affecting politics, society and economics on both national and international scales. The two major western democracies, Britain and the USA, emerged on the surface completely victorious. ‘Modern’ twentieth-century liberal democracies with their representative governments and capitalist economies had defeated the stalwarts of nineteenth-century authoritarianism and protectionism: Germany and Austria-Hungary. It appeared that a smooth future of stability and growth was assured.

However, the post-1918 world proved to be a great challenge. Internationally, both countries were faced with the Second World War and world economic downturns in the 1930s and 1970s. While at home workers, women, youth, the poor and social, racial and ethnic minorities all struggled for greater representation, equal opportunities and economic security. Both countries would survive without political revolution occurring but would experience varying degrees of political, economic and social transformation.

 

Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors 1485 – 1603

This unit will explore the nature of rebellion and disorder under the Tudors and the way the various challenges were met, the nature of change in government over the period and the changing relationship between the Crown and key sections of society. The option enables students to explore the way in which, despite a shaky start, the Tudors were able to establish their dynasty as one of the most powerful England has seen.

 

Coursework – Unit 4

The purpose of coursework is to enable students to develop skills in the analysis and evaluation of interpretations of history in a chosen question, problem or issue as part of an independently researched assignment.

Full specification is available at – http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/history-2015.html

Textbooks used:

  • Democracies in Change: Britain and the USA in the twentieth century by Nick Shepley, Vivienne Sanders, Peter Clement & Robin Bunce. (ISBN – 1471837688)
  • Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors, 1485 – 1603 by Alison Gundy. (ISBN – 1447985435)

Further reading/resources:

Revision:

  • My Revision Notes: Edexcel AS/A-level History: Britain transformed, 1918-97 (ISBN – 1471876438)
  • My Revision Notes: Edexcel AS/A-level History: The USA, c1920–55: boom, bust and recovery (ISBN – 1471876462)
  • My Revision Notes: Edexcel A-level History: Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors, 1485-1603 (ISBN – 147876616)

Additional reading:

  • The History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr
  • The making of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr
  • A little History of the United States by James Davidson
  • One Summer, America 1927 by Bill Bryson
  • Anything Goes by Lucy Moore
  • Winter King by Thomas Penn
  • 1536: The Year that changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipcomb
  • Tudor England by John Guy
  • My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy

 

Where can HISTORY take you?