History
The vision of the History department, which also includes the teaching of Politics, is ‘Developing Enquiring Minds’.
The department, based in the school’s Newton Block, consists of three talented teachers who love both History and the teaching of it in equal measure! At KS3, students are taught in mixed ability groups, and at KS4, History is a popular option. At post-16, the department offer A levels in History, and Politics, both of which are extremely popular, and lead to many students studying these subjects at university level.
The role of the History teacher is no small task, and our staff endeavour to equip our students with the knowledge of people, events and periods of history spanning all the way from the Romans to the present day. In order to present their wide range of knowledge, students are taught how to structure detailed and evaluative essays, and how to debate the answers to crucial questions. They also learn precise knowledge about a wide range of historical events, and learn to 'read between the lines' of sources.
The focus of lessons in History is on collaborative learning in engaging lessons where students are encouraged to work together to explore, evaluate and understand. Lessons are also extremely well resourced, with GCSE students benefitting from sample model answers, question breakdown sheets, and a vast range of historical sources to appreciate.
Of course, the discovery of history outside the classroom is also important to the department. Students have had the opportunity to visit the University of Sheffield to take part in Model UN debates, and have also ventured further afield to visit Germany and discover history in action. Students of Politics have benefitted from multiple visits from Ed Milliband MP, and a member of the House of Lords (Lord Norton) to discuss contemporary political issues.
For information about A level History and A level Politics, please visit our Sixth Form course pages.
KS3
Year 7
|
Half-term 1 (September – October) |
Romans |
|
Half-term 2 (Until Christmas) |
Hastings |
|
Half-term 3 (Up until February) |
Hastings |
|
Half-term 4 (Until Easter) |
Medieval Life |
|
Half-term 5 (Until May) |
Medieval Life |
|
Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year) |
Tudors |
Students will undertake a knowledge test every three weeks. The information students need to know will be provided to them on a Knowledge Box and we will expect students to produce their own revision material from these and self-test regularly to ‘drill’ the content.
Students will be assessed regularly on content and skills covered since September.
Support
At the start of each topic, students will be given a Knowledge Box which summarises all of the key information students will need to learn. Please test your child on these and ask to see that they have made extra revision notes from them.
We set homework every week; it will be to revise the key content from previous lessons (using the Knowledge Box).
Useful websites to develop and consolidate learning are below:
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/
www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zk26n39
Year 8
|
Half-term 1 (September – October) |
World War One |
|
Half-term 2 (Until Christmas) |
Weimar Republic |
|
Half-term 3 (Up until February) |
Weimar Republic |
|
Half-term 4 (Until Easter) |
Hitler's Germany |
|
Half-term 5 (Until May) |
Hitler's Germany |
|
Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year) |
Treatment of Jewish peoples, 1933 - 45 |
Students will undertake a knowledge test every three weeks. The information students need to know will be provided to them on a Knowledge Box and we will expect students to produce their own revision material from these and self-test regularly to ‘drill’ the content.
Students will be assessed regularly on content and skills covered since September.
Support
At the start of each topic, students will be given a Knowledge Box which summarises all of the key information students will need to learn. Please test your child on these and ask to see that they have made extra revision notes from them.
We set homework every week; it will be to revise the key content from previous lessons (using the Knowledge Box).
Useful websites to develop and consolidate learning are below:
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/
www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zk26n39
Year 9
|
Half-term 1 (September – October) |
Holocaust |
|
Half-term 2 (Until Christmas) |
US Boom |
|
Half-term 3 (Up until February) |
Discrimination |
|
Half-term 4 (Until Easter) |
Discrimination |
|
Half-term 5 (Until May) |
Migration |
|
Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year) |
Conflict in Northern Ireland |
Students will undertake a knowledge test every three weeks. The information students need to know will be provided to them on a Knowledge Box and we will expect students to produce their own revision material from these and self-test regularly to ‘drill’ the content.
Students will be assessed regularly on content and skills covered since September.
Support
At the start of each topic, students will be given a Knowledge Box which summarises all of the key information students will need to learn. Please test your child on these and ask to see that they have made extra revision notes from them.
We set homework every week; it will be to revise the key content from previous lessons (using the Knowledge Box).
Useful websites to develop and consolidate learning are below:
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 of only £2.45 each.
Alternatively, they can be purchased via this link:
Topics (Year 10)
|
Half-term 1 (September – October) |
Civil Rights: USA |
|
Half-term 2 (Until Christmas) |
Civil Rights: Vietnam |
|
Half-term 3 (Up until February) |
Cold War |
|
Half-term 4 (Until Easter) |
Cold War |
|
Half-term 5 (Until May) |
Whitechapel |
|
Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year) |
Assessment preparation |
Topics (Year 11)
|
Half-term 1 (September – October) |
Crime and Punishment |
|
Half-term 2 (Until Christmas) |
Crime and Punishment |
|
Half-term 3 (Up until February) |
Early Elizabethan England |
|
Half-term 4 (Until Easter) |
Early Elizabethan England |
|
Half-term 5 (Until May) |
Revision |
|
Half-term 6 (Until the end of the school year) |
Exams |
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 have a knowledge test every week, and a diagnostic assessment at least every 4 weeks. We will also have end of half-term assessments which will cover all of the content students have covered in class from the beginning of Year 10 up to that point.
Support
|
Homework |
What we will ask students to do |
How parents can support |
|
Revision |
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. |
Ask to see the notes your child has prepared.
Test them on the content. |
|
Practice questions |
We will give students a set of practice questions to answer. |
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. |
Useful web links:
qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html
www.bbc.com/education/examspecs/zw4bv4j
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir2/