History

Intent & Implementation

Our Curriculum Intent

Our vision for our History curriculum:

We want to create enthusiastic historians who are curious to learn about the past.
We want students to broaden their minds, to learn about the experiences of different people, different places and different ideas.
We want students to explore key events and investigate themes through history and consider change, continuity, similarity and difference.
All of this understanding of the past should enable students to make sense of Britain, Europe and the world today.

How our subject curriculum is sequenced and why we plan it this way:

The KS3 curriculum enables us to build on previous units so students have background knowledge which is built on; they are also able to see connections between different units. For example, students are introduced to conquest in the civilisation unit and then this is developed with the Norman Conquest in Year 7 and Empire in Year 8. Another example is empires are introduced in the civilisations unit, developed in Year 8 and then connected to the First World War in Year 9. In terms of political power, students learn about absolute power in Year 7 with William I, then study the challenges to the power of the monarchy in Year 8 with the English Civil War and the study of changing political power from the Medieval era to the 20th Century. Students develop this knowledge of power and change through a comparative study of the French and Russian Revolutions enabling them to not only learn about other countries but also compare the speed and nature of change with developments in British history.
We start with an introduction to chronology and examples of civilisations to make links with KS2 study and lay the foundations for further study of the KS3 curriculum.
The first unit also introduces students to the importance of evidence for historians and this is built into every civilisation studied.
We build on the skills throughout KS3 so they become more complex, developed and students think more critically. For example:

Evidence skills develop from simple selection of details and inferences to critical evaluation and use in investigating interpretations
Causation starts with individual causes but develops into combining causes into themes/factors and considering their interrelationship and significance

At KS4, the content is delivered in the following order: Medicine, Elizabethan England, Germany and finally Superpower Relations. The reasoning for this is that Medicine has the most connections with prior learning at KS3 (examples are the Medieval Church, changing beliefs in the early modern period, Industrial Revolution and First World War) so enables students to see how these relate to the thematic study unit. We teach Germany and Superpower Relations later on due to the focus on political and economic history and the Cold War follows on from the Germany course, helping students to see how the units connect. Elizabethan England is taught before these as elements of this unit introduce students to international relations (and also complement the First World War study in Year 9 which has a focus on international relations) and because of the importance of religion which is a key theme of the Medicine course that precedes it.

How we connect the knowledge over the key stages (deliberate connections):

For more information about connections between the units and key stages: KS3 KS4

How we make our subject knowledge stick:

Through regular retrieval activities at the start of every lesson and through careful planning and questioning to highlight the links with other aspects of the curriculum.
This is supported by the homework schedule which is designed to complement the curriculum taught in lessons. Weekly tasks help students to learn key vocabulary and information to support and reinforce their learning in lessons.
Homework tasks require students to learn the vocabulary and information and marks are recorded, enabling teachers to identify gaps and support students.
Concepts and themes run through the course and the curriculum is planned to build on previous learning within the same year and previous years
Key skills are planned and taught through each year and become more complex over time, although more able students are challenged to go beyond
Key aspects of knowledge are repeated through retrieval practice to help enable progress through the units
Regular retrieval practice including repetition
Design of the homework tasks including repetition

How We Allow All Students to Succeed ( included SEND and disadvantaged )

How we allow all students to reach our ambitious subject end points:

Carefully planned and sequenced curriculum
Homework is carefully planned and assessed to embed key vocabulary and knowledge
Careful seating plans and use of prior data such as Classcharts, pupil passports and reading ages
Low stakes testing
Parental contact to communicate students’ progress
Planned intervention for targeted Year 11 students after school
Department spreadsheets enable recording and monitoring of students’ progress and identify where support is required
Reading booklets at GCSE to reduce cognitive load and support and challenge students of all abilities
Reference is made to the SEND document to support teaching and learning: Click here

Our Curriculum Overview

Curriculum Overview KS3 (Click here)

Curriculum Overview KS4 (Click here)

Our Curriculum Learning Pathway

KS3 and KS4 Subject Curriculum Pathway (PDF)

Our Curriculum

See above

Transition & Building on KS2 / KS3

CCC has worked closely with our primary partners during 2021/22. We have shared knowledge on the curriculum intents at key stage two and key stage three to enhance student transition and the sequencing of learning.

The first study unit in Year 7 is designed to help with the transition from KS2 to KS3. It makes connections with topics studied at KS2 and focuses on knowledge and understanding of time and chronology. It also makes links with the abstract terms mentioned in the KS2 curriculum such as civilisation and empire. Aspects of the unit make connections with statutory and non-statutory content from KS2 such as the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and an Ancient civilisation.

Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3, students’ learning starts with a firm grasp of chronology to introduce them to the past and how and when things happened. They learn about history across a range of periods and places from ancient to modern times which makes connections with prior learning at KS2 and develops this further. They study topics both chronologically and thematically as they progress through KS3. For example, they study Medieval history in Year 7 and 20th century history in Year 9. The theme of power is studied in Year 7 with the Norman Conquest and Medieval Church, built on in Year 8 with a study of how political power changed in Britain over 1,000 years and in Year 9 they study the turning-points of the French and Russian Revolutions. They are encouraged to identify connections between historical periods, as well as between the past and today.

Themes of, for example, power, rights and beliefs are revisited at different times in the same year of teaching as well as in subsequent years to help develop chronological understanding and identify change, continuity, similarity and difference. Connections are also made between the topics studied and local history so students develop an understanding of how the local area has changed over time. As students progress through KS3 they also extend their knowledge and understanding of how different groups of people have been affected by history, for example, they learn about slavery and empire and how this has connections with their own country and the wider world in the past and today. Connections are made with KS2 and developed further with, for example, immigration and its impact on Britain.

As students progress through KS3 they learn to use and question an increasing range of evidence starting with more basic skills such as identifying source details to more complex skills such as source evaluation. They also learn to develop skills of thinking analytically and critically so they can understand the past but also apply these skills to their lives today. These skills, together with progression in written communication, are developed throughout the curriculum. Students begin, for example, with a focus on skills such as describing, then move to developing analytic skills and the structure of their paragraphs. As they progress through KS3 they learn how to write more developed responses with increasing complexity such as detailed comparisons, analysis and evaluation as well as supported conclusions.

Key Stage 4

At KS4, students build on the foundations laid in KS3 and further develop their knowledge and understanding of history. Connections are made between the KS4 and KS3 programmes of study, for example, between Elizabethan England and religious changes, the Russian Revolution and Superpower Relations and the First World War and Germany. Students also develop their history skills with increasing complexity in areas such as analysis, evaluation, explanation, substantiating conclusions and formulating arguments based on evidence. An additional significant focus is on chronology so students develop their understanding of historical narratives and an overview of the topics studied. This is particularly important regarding their understanding of change, continuity and turning-points. By the end of the 5 years, they have become more independent and have been prepared for further study.

What Examination Course(s) do we follow?

Pearson Edexcel GCSE History:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html

Paper 1: Medicine through time c.1250-present

Paper 2: Early Elizabethan England 1558-88 and Superpower Relations: Cold War 1941-91

Paper 3: Germany 1918-39

Curriculum Impact- How we measure attainment and progress:

In History, assessment happens in many ways:

Books are marked in-line with our marking policy and strengths and targets for improvement are highlighted
Assessments are planned with increasing complexity as KS3 and KS4 progresses and focus on knowledge and skills taught over a series of lessons
Weekly homework tests
During lessons: retrieval tasks to test retention of knowledge, questioning, factual tests, true/false activities
End of year assessments requiring revision
At KS4, students are required to revise content for their assessments

Assessment of learning over time in measured in a variety of ways - in each lesson, from lesson to lesson and at the end of units of work:

Retrieval challenges at the start of every lesson - these revisit the key knowledge that has been recently acquired and helps students learn, and make connections with, the current lesson
Knowledge quizzes/low stakes tests measure the knowledge and understanding acquired in lessons
MWBs are used regularly in lessons for a quick and effective measure of pupil understanding
Short and extended writing tasks. Examples are explaining causes and effects, making and supporting inferences from evidence, writing narratives.
Summative assessments which assess various skills and also the learning throughout a unit of work
Challenge is planned through the 3 year KS3 course to introduce, consolidate and extend knowledge and understanding of concepts, skills and writing skills. Assessments are designed to assess skills with increasing complexity as they progress through the key stages. For example, we assess shorter writing tasks such as explaining individual causes, selecting evidence to support inferences and describing in the autumn term of year 7. By the middle of Year 9, students are assessed through writing essays based on a range of causes including long term and trigger causes and reaching substantiated evaluative conclusions and they make detailed comparisons between the causes and effects of two revolutions.
Feedback is verbal and written, identifying strengths and areas for development and we adjust our planning accordingly
We meet to standardise and discuss the quality of students’ learning and identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to inform future planning.

How do we enrich our subject outside the classroom?

In History, we:

Have a homework schedule to reinforce vocabulary and knowledge to support learning of the curriculum
Offer additional homework tasks to broaden students’ knowledge of the subject
Organise visits to historical sites connected to the curriculum
Promote the resources available on the Historical Association website to help students to broaden their knowledge and support them with careers choices