CURRICULUM
HISTORY
History Curriculum Intent
The purpose of the History curriculum is to endow students with a love of history, and enable their engagement with history, both in and out of school. They will develop skills that are essential to understand the twenty-first century world; that the power structures of the world are not static but shifting; learning not to accept everything they see and hear but instead seek to analyse the purpose and source of information.
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HISTORICAL STRANDS
First Order Concepts
Students progress in History by understanding and retaining substantive knowledge about unique concepts. These are people, events, periods of time which form the basis of History; for example, D Day, Henry VIII and the Renaissance are unique concepts. These concepts progress chronologically across years 7-9. Students also develop their understanding of inclusive concepts, such as monarchy, democracy, power, slavery and class. Students use these to make links between periods and their understanding of these inclusive concepts become more complex throughout years 7-11.
Students begin by ensuring they can confidently arrange events into chronological order, then develop their ability to explain how and why one event can cause another, before progressing to think about long term, short term and trigger causes, and the relative impact of various causes and consequences. Students also develop their understanding of Historical Significance. Our department uses Christine Counsell’s ‘5 Rs’ (Remembered, Resonant, Results in Change, Revealing & Remarkable) to help students explain why some historical events or figures have had a greater impact on history than others and why different historians and societies may seek to emphasise some significance over others.
Second Order Concepts
Historiography
Our department defines an historical source as a record created within 5 years of the event being studied. Students develop their understanding of the different sources available to historians, before working on why those sources are useful to historians, analysing how far they reinforce what students have learned and looking at how who has created the source affects this utility. Interpretations are opinions about history, created by those who were not present at the time. Students progress to analysing various interpretations of the same event, linking this to ascribed significance and ultimately gaining confidence in creating their own interpretations.