The vision of the History department, which also includes the teaching of Politics, is: ‘Developing Enquiring Minds.’
Through the History Curriculum at Ridgewood School we create academically successful and intellectually curious historians, whose fascination with, and thirst for the subject drives many of them to continue to pursue the discipline in their futures.
Our History Curriculum will provide extensive and wide-ranging opportunities by:
- Studying topics and events of historical significance at a local, regional, national, international, continental and global level.
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- Enabling students to gain a chronological understanding of how Britain, Europe and the world has changed over time.
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- Having a knowledge-first approach to the curriculum, allowing students to master and retrieve precise details from each unit, including: names, dates, places, facts and figures.
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- Supporting students to develop an understanding of how to apply and write about historical concepts such as causation; continuity and change; significance; consequence; diversity.
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- Allowing students to reach developed and reasoned judgements.
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- Exposing students to a high level of historical and conceptual vocabulary and scholarship.
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- Explicitly teaching students sophisticated terminology and literacy devices to include in their written and verbal responses.
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- Teaching students how to write like a historian, including through the use of academic devices like footnotes and bibliographies.
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- Incorporating a variety of sources and historical interpretations, of multiple types, to be analysed and evaluated.
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- Helping students to be able to present and debate with clarity, fluency and passion.
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Please get in touch via the enquiry form on our Contact Us page. Should you have any further questions about our History Curriculum, please contact Mr Carlin, Curriculum Lead.
KS3
Year 7
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Half-term 1 (September – October)
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Romans
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Half-term 2 (Until Christmas)
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Romans and Hastings
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Half-term 3 (Up until February)
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Hastings
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Half-term 4 (Until Easter)
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Medieval Life
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Half-term 5 (Until May)
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Tudors
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Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year)
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Stuarts and Victorians
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Students will be assessed regularly on content and skills covered since September.
Support
In the run up to assessments, students will be given revision materials to learn in preparation for the test.
Useful web links:
Year 8
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Half-term 1 (September – October)
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World War One
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Half-term 2 (Until Christmas)
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Age of Revolutions
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Half-term 3 (Up until February)
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Weimar Republic
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Half-term 4 (Until Easter)
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Hitler's Germany
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Half-term 5 (Until May)
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Hitler's Germany
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Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year)
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Holocaust
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Students will be assessed regularly on content and skills covered since September.
Support
We set homework regularly; it will be to read an extract and answer summary questions.
In the run up to assessments, students will be given revision materials to learn in preparation for the test.
Useful web links:
Year 9
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Half-term 1 (September – October)
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Miners’ Strike
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Half-term 2 (Until Christmas)
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Slavery
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Half-term 3 (Up until February)
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Apartheid in South Africa |
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Half-term 4 (Until Easter)
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The Troubles in Northern Ireland
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Half-term 5 (Until May)
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Cambodia |
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Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year)
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British Civil Rights Movement and Global (in)justice |
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Students will be assessed regularly on content and skills covered since September.
Support
We set homework regularly; it will be to read an extract and answer summary questions.
In the run up to assessments, students will be given revision materials to learn in preparation for the test.
Useful web links:
KS4
Students follow the Pearson/Edexcel History GCSE specification.
We would strongly recommend students purchase the Revision Guides which accompany each topic to support their learning. There are four in total which summarise all the key information and provide tasks and practice questions within them.
The topics we study are:
- Paper 1) Crime and Punishment with Whitechapel
- Paper 2) Early Elizabethan England
- Paper 2) Cold War
- -Paper 3) USA, 1954-75
The School Shop sells these at a reduced rate.
Alternatively, they can be purchased via this link:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.resources.html?filterQuery=category:Pearson-UK:Publisher%2FPearson
Topics (Year 10)
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Half-term 1 (September – October)
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Civil Rights: USA
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Half-term 2 (Until Christmas)
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Civil Rights: Vietnam
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Half-term 3 (Up until February)
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Cold War
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Half-term 4 (Until Easter)
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Cold War
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Half-term 5 (Until May)
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Whitechapel
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Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year)
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Assessment Preparation and Crime and Punishment
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Topics (Year 11)
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Half-term 1 (September – October)
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Crime and Punishment
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Half-term 2 (Until Christmas)
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Crime and Punishment |
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Half-term 3 (Up until February)
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Early Elizabethan England
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Half-term 4 (Until Easter)
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Early Elizabethan England |
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Half-term 5 (Until May)
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Revision
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Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year)
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Exams
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Assessment
There will be three terminal examinations at the end of Year 11 – Paper 1 (Crime and Punishment with Whitechapel, which is worth 30% of the overall qualification), Paper 2 (Elizabeth and the Cold War, which is worth 40% of the overall qualification) and Paper 3 (USA, which is worth 30% of the overall qualification). There is no coursework.
Students will be set homework each week. This will either be to learn key information, or complete revision tasks and exam planning. Students will be assessed regularly in class on all topics taught.
Support
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Homework
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What we will ask students to do
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How parents can support
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| Content retrieval |
Complete an online knowledge quiz via Microsoft Forms
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Check that this has been completed. Ask the student to explain the topic(s) they have been revising to you. |
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Revision
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We will tell students there will be a knowledge test on a particular topic and provide them with revision materials. We will expect students to produce their own notes / flashcards / mind-maps and self-test themselves regularly.
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Ask to see the notes your child has prepared.
Test them on the content.
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Practice questions
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We will give students a set of practice questions to answer.
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Check the presentation of the work.
The homework should take at least an hour – please check to ensure sufficient time has been spent on it.
Read the answers to check it achieves each criterion on the structure sheets / checklists provided.
Encourage your son / daughter to use the revision materials on this webpage to supplement their answers.
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Useful web links:
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