History
Core Purpose
- To understand that there are histories rather than one history
- To understand that we need depth and breadth of knowledge about the past in order to be able to explain, analyse and evaluate the past
- To understand that the past is a foreign country and that people in the past lived in mental, social and cultural worlds very different to our own
- To understand that there are links within and between historical events, periods and places
- To understand that history is not linear, but is impacted by a complex web of inter-relationships and results in a range of outcomes
- To understand that sources reveal different things depending on the questions that you ask of them
- To understand that historians use sources as evidence to form interpretations of the past
- To understand that interpretations of the past differ
- To understand that interpretations of the past are impacted by perspective and may influence the sources selected by a historian
- To understand that interpretations should be compared, interrogated and evaluated
- To understand that interpretations must be evaluated using relevant contextual knowledge
British Values Coverage
Democracy
Changing nature of government 1000CE to the present
The Rule of Law
Crime and punishment 1000CE to the present
Individual Liberty
1066, Peasants revolt, Magna Carta (Y7), English Civil War,
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Democracies and dictatorships of the 20th Century (Y8)
Civil Rights Movement 1950s-1970s (Y10-11)
Mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
Islamic Empires (Y7)
Holocaust (Y9)
All History lessons that teach the skill of understanding varying interpretations
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Coverage
Spiritual
Y7 - We study the importance of religious beliefs to ordinary people in Medieval England, the causes and effects of the Reformation, science and superstition in the seventeenth century
Y8 – Comparison of Medieval England and Islamic Civilisations. When studying the abolition of slavery, we look at religious justifications of slavery
Y9 – The Holocaust and the importance of respecting different beliefs and values
Y10 – The study of political ideologies that lie behind the Cold War, the impact of religion on Elizabethan society and crime and punishment through the ages
Y11 – The study of political ideologies that lie behind the Cold War, the impact of religion on Elizabethan society and crime and punishment through the ages
Moral
Y7 – Medieval control in society, the influence of protests e.g. Chartists and Suffragettes
Y8 – Slavery as a moral and ethical event
Y9 – The Holocaust as a moral and ethical event (Facing History)
Y10 – Crime and Punishment 1000-present, including a local environment study (Whitechapel) and the development of the police force
Y11 – Crime and Punishment 1000-present, the Civil Rights Movement and how it challenged restrictions to liberty and equality
Social
Frequent paired and group work, particularly around debating.
Democracy, law, liberty and tolerance are frequently visited in History e.g. the study of parliamentary democracy and its evolution from Norman times to the Magna Carta to the increasing power of Parliament in Tudor times (Y7). By studying the rise of democracies and dictatorships in the 20th century students are encouraged to reflect on the benefits of living in a tolerant democracy with freedom and liberties that do not exist in dictatorships such as Nazi Germany (Y8) and restrictions to liberty and equality in the USA in the 1950s. Crime and Punishment includes a local environment study (Whitechapel) into the social conditions in the past
Cultural
Y7 – We study the lifestyles and culture of people from the 11th - 17th centuries. This includes movements and conquests and how lifestyles have adapted and changed over time
Y8 – Study of the British Empire and different cultures within the empire, African life before slavery and slave culture, including slave music and Civil Rights protest songs. By studying the rise of democracies and dictatorships in the 20th century students are encouraged to reflect on the benefits of living in a tolerant democracy with freedom and liberties that do not exist in dictatorships such as Nazi Germany. The contribution of empire soldiers in World War One and World War Two
Y9 –GCSE – Changing nature of culture in England and its impact on attitudes towards crime and punishment 1000-present, Elizabethan culture (was it a ‘Golden Age’?)
Y10-11 – African American culture in post-WWII America, opposing cultural ideals of Capitalism and Communism in post-1945 Europe, cultural factors in the failure of USA in Vietnam
Please click here to see the History Curriculum Coverage
Last updated September 2018