Curriculum
HISTORY
Why study History?
Understanding past events and people and their significance gives students a better insight into the world around them. We believe in the importance of not just learning history, but learning from history. The study of History equips students with the ability to critically analyse source material, assess the merits of different arguments, hone their debating skills, and recognise bias and propaganda.
How will I study History?
Students study History through big enquiry questions. Each enquiry covers a sequence of lessons. At the end of that sequence of lessons students are equipped to formulate their own answer to the enquiry. These are genuine historical debates amongst academic historians. Students learn historical concepts that are revisited regularly in different periods of time, locations and people allowing students to gain a deeper understanding. Alongside this students learn to be historians developing their disciplinary knowledge understanding methods of historical enquiry, how evidence is used to make historical claims and understand why there are different interpretations of the past.
What will I study in key stage 3?
In Year 7 pupils explore historical enquiries that span the coexistence of Christianity and Islam in the Medieval world to the Tudor period. This includes historical enquiries that explore if the Normans brought trouble to Britain; the significance of the Magna Carta; if 1348 really was the end of the world; was there a Mid Tudor Crisis and was Elizabeth I really Gloriana.
In Year 8 pupils move through the Stuart and Georgian periods. Pupils explore enquiries that cover why the English killed their King; if the world really did turn upside down with no monarch; how modern was Britain by 1789; did the abolition of slavery end slavery; and why is the British Empire on trial; was there an Indian mutiny or a war of independence.
In Year 9 pupils move into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Historical enquiries explore if the Industrial Revolution did bring progress; how democratic was Britain by 1930; why were the Nazis able to implement the Final Solution; why did the British Empire Decolonise; why did western intervention in the Middle East change throughout the twentieth century.
What will I study at key stage 4?
At Key Stage 4, students take a Modern depth study on opportunity and inequality in America. This focuses on America and the boom, experiences of the depression and the new deal, and post-War America.
As a thematic study, students study Health and the people c1000 to the present day. This explores ideas about: Medicine during the Medieval Period; the beginnings of change during the Renaissance; Revolutionary Medicine; Modern Medicine.
As a British depth study, students explore early Elizabethan England. They focus on: the Queen; government and religion; challenges to Elizabeth I at home and abroad; and Elizabethan society and the age of exploration. They will also explore a specific Elizabethan site in depth focusing on its historical context and examining the relationship between a specific place and associated historical events and developments.
In addition, students undertake a period study focusing on Conflict and Tension between East and West 1945-1972. This covers the origins of the Cold War crises after WWII, the development and transformation of the Cold War throughout the 1950s and 1960s and attempts to reduce tension between the East and West.
Assessment
Examination Board: AQA
| Paper 1: Understanding the Modern World | |
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| Overview | Focus |
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| Paper 2: Shaping the Nation | |
| Overview | Focus |
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Enrichment Offer
The History Department runs a number of enrichment clubs, competitions and trips to places of historical interest throughout the year. These included, London, Liverpool Docklands, Liverpool Cathedral, Skipton Castle, and Quarry Bank Mill
Our close partnership to the Holocaust Memorial Trust sees a survivor talk and book club looking at this event in detail in order to empathise with the victims.
Intervention sessions to consolidate prior learning and ensure maximum progress are at the heart of our delivery model.
Careers
The study of History can lead to future careers ranging from Researcher, Museum Archivist and Journalist to Librarian, Business Consultant and Editor. Famous History graduates include Louis Theroux (documentary filmmaker, author), Jonathan Ross (TV presenter), Joe Biden (US President) and Gordon Brown (ex-British Prime Minister).