Subject Information - History

VISION / AIM

High-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

Studying History enables pupils to better understand the world and the people around them, whilst stimulating intellectual thought, conversation and debate. A varied and stimulating curriculum is taught throughout all year groups, focussing on significant historical periods in the UK and around the globe which have shaped the world as we know it today. The subject develops a variety of highly valued skills including extended writing, drawing conclusions from multiple sources, researching, presenting and public speaking.

The subject develops a variety of highly valued skills including extended writing, drawing conclusions from multiple sources, researching, presenting and public speaking.  In addition, it opens many doors for the future, as it is one of the EBACC subjects, so highly recommended.

We offer extra-curricular opportunities such as history based internal and external academic and public speaking competitions.  Beyond the classroom, the History Department runs field trips, some locally to places such as, Hampton Court Palace, Greenwich and the Imperial War Museum. as well as overseas trips to Berlin.

Resources and support materials can be found on Google Classroom.

Further information can be requested from Mr J Boulton, Head of Department, jboulton@fhes.org.uk

 

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

FOR 2024 - 2025

 

Autumn Term 1

Autumn Term 2

Spring Term 1

Spring Term 2

Summer Term 1

Summer Term 2

Year 7

What is History?

The Norman Conquest

Medieval Realms

The Tudors

The English Civil War

Glorious Revolution

Year 8

British Empire

Industrial Revolution

French Revolution

Crime and Punishment

The Suffragettes

US Civil Rights

Year 9

Crime and Punishment

French Revolution

Nazi Germany and the Holocaust

Russia 1914-39

The Second World War

The Cold War

 

FROM 2025 - 2026

Year

Theme

Autumn Term 1

Autumn Term 2

Spring Term 1

Spring Term 2

Summer Term 1

Summer Term 2

Year 7

From 2024-25

The making of the UK

What is History?

The Norman Conquest

Medieval Realms

The Tudors

The English Civil War

Glorious Revolution

Year 8

From 2024-25

Empire, Revolution and Civil Rights

The British Empire

The Industrial Revolution

The French Revolution

Crime and punishment through time

The Suffragettes

US Civil Rights

Year 9

From 2025-26

The 20th Century world

Russia 1914-1939

The First World War

1920’s USA

InterWar years, +WWII home front

WWII and the Holocaust

The Cold War

 

KEY SKILLS

Key Skills

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Year 11

Causation

Can identify causes of an event.

Can identify the most important cause.

Can start to categories causes at a basic level.

Can describe the most important causes of events (using evidence/historical facts and details).

Can explain the consequences.

Can reach a judgement about the most important cause and give basic evidence to support an opinion.

Can categorise causes into themes economic / social /political.

Can use historical dates.

Can explain how causes are interconnected.

Can discuss the relative importance of causes.

Can classify short-term vs long-term consequences.

Write in greater detail about historical events using key historical vocabulary.

Change and Continuity

Can describe how things have changed in history and give basic reasons for these changes.

Can describe reasons why things in society have changed or stayed the same.

Answers will be much longer and have a clear structure - introduction,main body, conclusion. Answer is well written.

Might start to categorise changes – long-term / short-term/important.  Don’t just describe the changes - link the changes to the question.

Provide bits of evidence /information to support your point of view.

Have an opinion (not just describing) and set out to prove it.

May include at least some dates and key words.

Introductions and conclusions may be a little brief.

Answers will be well written and in more depth than ‘Expected’.

Answers will be much longer and have a clear structure - introduction, main body, conclusion.

Introduction and conclusion will clearly state your opinion and refer to some of the evidence used in your answer.

Comment on different types of Change and Continuity –political /social / economic.

Explain why some types of change were more significant.

Write in full, well-structured answers using good English and grammar.

Might make links and comparisons between time periods, including similarities and differences.

Will include some dates and key words

Answers are consistently accurate, well-reasoned and your argument is sustained throughout.

Don’t just describe historical events –you link them to the question and provide bits of evidence to support your point.  You have an opinion (not just describing) and set out to prove it.

Interpretations and Sources

Able to select and describe key features of a variety of interpretations.

Able to explain the purpose of an interpretation. Make simple statements about the relevance of the origin of an interpretation.

Inclined to regard interpretations as simply ‘opinions’.

Understands the meaning of sources.

Able to select and describe the key features of a variety of interpretations.

Able to explain the purpose of an interpretation.

Make simple statements about the relevance of the origin of an interpretation.

Inclined to regard interpretations as simply ‘opinions’.

Can link interpretations to particular sources.

Understand that historians will look at events from different perspectives.

Can comment on the usefulness of sources.

Can confidently handle different interpretations and are skilled at identifying the different evidence and arguments used by their creators.

Well written using subject specific vocabulary.

Can use historical dates effectively.

Understands how interpretations are formed and reinforced by historical context and author.

Can comment on the usefulness of sources and commenting on their context and underlying meaning.

Can make complex links between sources and interpretations across different time periods.

Significance

Identifying the significance of eg Roman/Normans and their impact today.

List why something was important.

Able to explain why certain events are turning points in the context of then and now and make a basic judgement.

Be familiar with the criteria for identifying significant people, events and ideas.

Describe why an event or person was significant using the 3 Rs (remarkable, remembered, results.)

Understand the concept of historical significance.

Compare the significance of different events and individuals.

Can evaluate the significance of an individual or event within a broader context of the topic and make a clear judgement.

 

GCSE HISTORY EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

AQA

NEA

N/A

Paper 1

Understanding the Modern World

Section B: Wider world depth studies

Germany 1890 - 1945

Conflict and Tension between East and West 1945-1972

Paper 2

Shaping the Nation

Section A: Thematic Studies

Section B: British Depth Studies 

Health and the People c1000 to the present day

Elizabethan England 1568-1603

Link to the Specification

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/history/gcse/history-8145/specification-at-a-glance

 

 

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