History at KS3

Can We Help?

If you require any further information about the curriculum we are following in this subject, please contact the Head of Department.

Course ID

N/A

Faculty

Humanities

Department

History

Level

Key Stage 3

Head of Faculty

E. Richman

Head of Department

C. Johns

History at KS3 is not only designed to enthuse, but to equip students with knowledge and skills that will prepare them to become life-long learners.

Our topics are carefully chosen and thoughtfully planned to promote critical thinking and independent enquiry, so that students are given the opportunity to challenge their misconceptions, build upon their curiosity of the past and consider the relevance to issues that confront all of us in the modern world. Our Year 7 course focuses on the theme of ‘Conquest and Settlement in Medieval Europe and the Arab World’, moving into ‘Religion, Empire and Industrialisation in the Early Modern World’ in Year 8, and Year 9 explores ‘Conflicts in the c20th World’. We are privileged to host a visit from a Holocaust speaker for Year 9 students, and various off-site visits, enriching opportunities that allow students to actively participate in historical issues that have meaning in the present day.

Curriculum Termly Breakdown by Year

Year 7

Term	Unit of Work	Assessment
Autumn 1	Introduction to history: what is history?	Skills assessment.
Autumn 2	Medieval rule.	Explain why William won the Battle of Hastings?
Spring 1	Medieval life.	Was life hard for medieval peasants?
Spring 2	Medieval life.	Was life hard for medieval peasants?
Summer 1	Medieval World: moving and travelling.	What was the impact of the Arab World in medieval Europe?
Summer 2	Medieval World: moving and travelling.	What was the impact of the Arab World in medieval Europe?

Year 8

Term	Unit of Work	Assessment
Autumn 1	Skills Unit Ruling 1500-1750	Skills Unit – Assessment Ruling 1500-1750: ‘Henry VIII made the most important changes to religion during the Tudor period’. How far do you agree with this statement?
Autumn 2	Living and Working 1500-1750	Assessment: What was the greatest threat to people living in the period 1500-1750?
Spring 1	British Empire	Assessment: Explain why Britain wanted an empire?
Spring 2	Transatlantic Slave Trade	Assessment: How useful is Roots for learning about the Middle Passage?
Summer 1	Britain 1750 – 1900
Summer 2	Civil Rights in the USA.

Year 9

Term	Unit of Work	Assessment
Autumn 1	The First World War	Explain: What were the causes of the First World War?
Autumn 2	The nature of trench warfare.	How useful is source A for learning about the success of the British Army at Battle of the Somme?
Spring 1	The Road to World War II.	Explain why Britain won the battle of Britain.
Spring 2	Was the Blitz Spirit a myth?	Do you agree with Interpretation 1 that the Blitz spirit was a myth?
Summer 1	Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.	Students are assessed during and at the end of each project; verbal feedback and levels are recording on a feedback matrix in students’ sketchbooks.
Summer 2	Protest and campaigns for equal rights.	How useful is the film Suffragette for an enquiry into the success of the Suffragette movement?